Maybe I'm Amazed
by doctor's gal 1792
Summary: Charlotte is traveling on the Titanic serving as a maid to her mistress and friend Isabel who is engaged to marry. Charlotte is dedicated to her job and wants to do her job with no distractions. Lightoller also wants to do his job with no distractions, but plans are made to be broken and they are about to learn for good reason.
1. Home is Where the Heart Is

Title: Maybe I'm Amazed

Author: doctors gal1792

Rating: T for language

Word Count: 2,640

Dedicated: This was written for classicmovielover who specifically requested a Lightoller romance...

Summary: A young maid is traveling with her mistress and friend, Isabel Phillips, on the Titanic as Isabel sails to marry an American man from Boston. A chance meeting brings young Charlotte Bennett into the path of Charles Lightoller. Both are dedicated to their work and looking to making the trip and not letting anything get in the way, but they soon learn that plans don't always go the way they want, and for good reason.

Disclaimer: I do not own Titanic, the ship or the film. The ship belongs to the Ocean and the film belong to James Cameron and Paramount. I am but a simple fan of this beautiful ship. I mean no disrespect to any members of family who are used and mentioned in this story, it is simply a silly little work of fiction. No money is being made off of the writing of this story.

A/N- I battled for awhile if I wanted to touch Titanic again, so soon after I finished the other story. My last review on "Run Away With Me" had been a "I hope to see a Lightoller romance," and of course saying stuff like that makes me have thoughts! However I could not see a plausible plot line that had not already been done, and dear God has the servant story line been done. Someone else is even doing one about Lightoller on the Olympic...which initially hindered me from even trying this! But antionetterose and I both agreed that since this is a different ship then all should be fine. I mean no disrespect and everyone should read the Olympic story because they had the idea before me! I finally came up with a servant idea because back before I graduated my teacher told me to read "Amanda Miranda" and so I checked it out simply to find out it's a Titanic story about a servant attending her mistress on the Titanic. So it'll be safe to say that this story is being heavily influenced by Richard Peck's little book. The title of the story came from a Paul McCartney song so I hope you enjoy. Thanks and enjoy!

XX

Chapter 1

Home is Where The Heart Is

Charlotte Eliza Bennett was born to James and Grace Bennett in 1887. Her parents both worked for the Phillips family of London, until they died in 1899. At twelve years old, Charlotte was orphaned with no other family to speak of and still a resident of the Phillips home. After her parents death, Charlotte stayed close to the older woman who cooked the meals for the family, and that was where she learned how to cook and be a servant of the house. At sixteen she became the personal servant to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips daughter Isabel, who was nine years old at the time.

Isabel and Charlotte developed an unlikely friendship and thus the two were very loyal to each other, which was typically frowned upon by members of London society, but the Phillips preferred their daughter to be taken care of by someone Isabel trusted, then someone she did not. As the two girls grew older, Isabel became a very beautiful young woman and when she was eighteen, she was proposed to by an American who worked in the banking business. Before Charlotte knew what was happening she found herself packing trunks for Isabel and the rest of the family to travel to America and first class tickets for the Titanic in hand.

Charlotte was pondering these things especially on the evening of the ninth of April. So much had happened to her since she was twelve and now she was about to turn twenty five and was about to move to Boston, Massachusetts in order to continue as Isabel's personal servant. It seemed like she would be with Isabel for the rest of time and she would never marry, which would have broken her mothers heart if she was still with them. She sighed as she carefully laid one of Isabel's evening dresses in to the trunk.

"Charlotte?"

The girl looked up from where she was packing to Isabel, who was sprawled out on her four poster bed, her eyes fixed on the canopy that was a luscious velvet and the color red.

"Yes miss?"

"Oh none of that miss nonsense, not when it is just you and I without the eyes of London society peering at us and tutting about how we should not be friends," Isabel fussed.

Charlotte laughed, "Alright Izzie, what is it?"

Isabel paused for a moment and Charlotte knew she was most likely making a face at being referred to as 'Izzie.' "Do you think you would like to marry some day?" the girl finally asked.

Charlotte stood to her full height and moved to some hat boxes that needed to be packed away still, "I would very much like to but as I am now twenty four-"

"Twenty five in six days!" Isabel corrected.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "The point stands that once you reach an age like twenty four, most men do not want to marry you. Besides, when do I ever have time to do something silly like fall in love when I have a trip to America to make with you?"

Isabel was silent again, "But if you ever fell in love and had the opportunity to marry, would you take it?"

Charlotte was silent as she thought about Isabel's words and then shrugged, "Well if some fellow came along and we both got along and he did not mind marrying woman who has been a servant since she was twelve years old, then perhaps. Your mother would have to give me more than just two days off though!"

Isabel gave a childish giggle and said, "Well once we live in America my mother will no longer be paying your wages, as I suspect that is something my dearly betrothed and I will be doing."

"Would it be inappropriate then to ask for a raise?" Charlotte joined Isabel then in her laughter.

"Of course we shall give you a raise and if a man ever were to ask for your hand I would give you a whole month off so you could run off and be married. Maybe you could honeymoon in Canada!" Isabel said.

Charlotte shook her head, "I hear Canada can be quite cold since it is so far North."

"Where did you hear that?" Isabel asked, sitting up finally.

Charlotte gave a little shrug and said, "Your father's geography journals that he has Jones throw out."

"Well then perhaps your dearly beloved will take you to California! We shall finally be seeing the Atlantic Ocean and so then you could see the Pacific Ocean!" Isabel said, smiling.

"Perhaps," Charlotte said, smiling. She set the hat boxes near the trunk and then looked back to Isabel, "Now we have to be up very early in the morning and so I think you should dress for bed now because I still have my own things to finish packing."

Isabel nodded and stood to her feet, her layers of gowns swishing around her feet as she moved. Charlotte followed her and pulled a night dress out of the wardrobe which had been folded beside Isabel's traveling suit for the next day. Carefully Charlotte began to pull Isabel's elaborate hair style down so that the girls brown curls fell around her shoulders. Isabel then removed her dress and let out a sigh of relief as Charlotte loosened the ties on her corset. Once Isabel was fully dressed for bed and her hair brushed out, Charlotte said good night and left the room for the evening.

Charlotte quietly walked down the hall to her own bedroom, which was smaller than Isabel's but well furnished. Her own suitcase was sitting open on the bed, still waiting to be packed. Charlotte sighed as she looked around the room, this was the room her parents had lived in and the room she had lived in for the last twenty four years, and come tomorrow she was quite sure she was unlikely to ever see it again. The girl crossed the space to her own set of dresser drawers and emptied the contents within a few minutes. She then found her mothers wedding ring which had been stowed away and she hid it in a secret pocket that had been sewn into the lining of the suitcase.

Once Charlotte's room was packed up she stepped back to look around the small bedroom and she couldn't help but think it no longer looked like the room she knew. The girl dressed for bed and climbed under the thick quilts where she tossed and turned for an hour or so, before she finally decided it was a fruitless effort. She found her slippers and dressing gown and slipped them on before quietly walking down the stairs to the kitchen. Her footsteps were padded because of the carpet, but before she had even reached the kitchen she heard a voice say, "Can't sleep child?"

Charlotte carefully pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw Ethel the cook sitting with Jones who was the butler. There was a steaming pot of tea between the two and they were drinking from older mugs, a usual evening send off that the two shared in before retiring to bed. Charlotte smiled at the two and retrieved her own mug from the cabinet and set it down on the counter, "I am quite nervous Ethel," she confessed, her eyes fixed on the amber liquid that Jones was now pouring out of the tea pot.

"Of course you are nervous, love. You've never sailed on a liner before, let alone a liner like the Titanic!" Ethel beamed at the child, but Charlotte detected a hint of sadness in the woman's voice.

Charlotte sighed as she began to stir some sugar cubes into the cup, "I am going to miss the two of you terribly."

"Nah, you won't. You are going to reach America and I don't want you to ever look back on this little old house. America is the place of dreams and I think your dreams will finally come true there," Ethel said as she reached out a hand to gently smooth back one of Charlotte's blond locks.

Charlotte gave a half smile, "But I shall miss this..." she nodded at the tea and the cups, "Sitting with you two and talking about the day, sharing the stories of our adventures in the house or out in town. Besides, I hear the people of America do not think much about our tea drinking."

Jones and Ethel laughed, "Yes well miss, I do believe Miss. Isabel will see to their being plenty of tea in her home."

"Well it shall all be very ironic given we will be living in Boston!" Charlotte said, laughing.

"Those damn Americans, one hundred and thirty-nine years later and I still do not understand why they had to waste so much precious tea," Ethel said.

Charlotte pretended to be shocked by Ethel swearing but she simply smiled, "Well I do suppose the taxes were unfair but there are better ways to protest!"

"I suppose we are probably just a tad biased though," Jones said, smiling at the two women.

"Yes, I suppose we probably are," Charlotte laughed.

"We sure are supposing a lot!" Ethel declared.

The three laughed again and fell into a silence immediately afterward.

They sat and sipped from their tea, listening to the ticking of the clock above the stove. Finally Ethel stood up from her seat and said, "Well child, you will be turning twenty-five in a few days and being that you will be a quarter of a century old, I have a gift for you."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh Ethel, you do not have to do something like that!"

"I do and I have, so please do not argue the fact with me."

Charlotte sighed and watched as Ethel went to the cupboards and dug out a jar from the back that the select few knew Ethel used the jar for things other than food. Ethel pulled a box out and turned back to face Charlotte, "This is from Jones and I."

Charlotte took the box, carefully caressing the box, the material smooth under her fingers. She opened the box and inside was a silver necklace with a heart on the chain. She stared at the necklace, her gaze transfixed by the gleam of the chain and charm. "Oh Ethel, it is so lovely," she finally breathed.

"We wanted you to have this to know that when you leave tomorrow, you are taking our hearts with you and we don't want you to ever forget us."

Charlotte looked up at Ethel, her eyes brimming with tears, "Oh thank you, so much. I truly have no words that I can use to express how much this means to me."

"That is fine because I know how you truly feel," Ethel had tears in her eyes as well as she looked down on the girl. She quickly brushed them from her eyes and smiled, "Now my dear, you have an, early morning trip to make and you should really try to sleep. I suspect that you will be very busy all day tomorrow."

Charlotte finished off her cup of tea and still clutching the box in her hand, she threw her arms around Ethel. The two women embraced for a moment and then Charlotte kissed Jones on the cheek, "Good night," she said before hurrying out of the room and up the stairs to her room.

Xxxx

The next morning Second Officer Charles Lightoller stood just outside of the bridge, overlooking the passengers who were boarding and the stewards who were running around frantically, making sure every last detail was perfect. Charles had been an officer on many ships but he was quite sure that this one was the grandest.

He had made many trips back and forth between America and England, even dropping everything and living in Canada for a bit, but every single time he was going to New York, he faced the journey with an eager and excited stature. That's not to say that he did not take his job seriously, because he did. You didn't just become a second officer (technically first, he would remind people when the Captain and Wilde had left the room,) by acting like a young and immature sailor.

"All ready?" Captain Smith asked as he emerged from the map room, a warm smile gracing his face.

Lightoller and Will Murdoch looked at each other before they both nodded at the Captain, "Yes sir, so far everything is set for us to leave on time."

"Just so long as the crew can hurry up the damned boarding process."

The officers looked as Bruce Ismay entered the room followed by Thomas Andrews who simply shook his head at Ismay's impatience.

"There are no foreseeable problems sir," Chief Officer Wilde said to Bruce.

"Good and it better stay that way," Bruce said, walking to a window of the wheel room and looking out of the perfect, gleaming glass. "I need everything about this journey to be perfect and to make headlines. The future of the White Star Line rests on this trip going well."

Lightoller caught Thomas Andrews eye for a moment, who was grimacing every time Bruce opened his mouth. He contained a smile and winked at Harold Lowe who was trying to hide his own look of dismay. The officers had been subjected to many speeches like this since they had been hired and they were looking forward to not having to deal with the "perfection speeches" and the "Unsinkable ship" nonsense. They all knew full well that no ship was unsinkable, despite whatever ideas fueled by complete lunacy that Ismay had in his mind.

"Alright well I have a dining room to oversee and an afternoon tea to prepare for, I shall see you there EJ," Ismay said, looking at the Captain. He nodded at the Officers and then left the room.

"Thank God," Boxhall muttered.

"Alright, let's get back to work and get this ship ready to go," Smith said after a moment. He looked at Thomas Andrews, "Come along into the map room," he said.

Murdoch watched the two disappear and then looked back to the Officers, "Alright you heard him, get back to work. Moody is down loading passengers at the third class entrance, Lowe go and assist him."

"Yes sir," Lowe said before quickly rushing out of the room.

Lightoller watched as Murdoch dispersed Boxhall and Pittman and then he walked over to the side of the ship again, looking down at the people who were boarding. His eyes caught a young maid who was following close behind a beautiful young woman who was flanked by an older woman and man who surely had to be her parents. However he wasn't focused on the passengers but instead the servant. She had her own sort of unearthly beauty to her and she seemed so determined to get her mistress on the ship and to do her job properly. There were other men behind them carrying piles of luggage and another man, younger, who was dressed handsomely, Lightoller couldn't figure out how he fit into the equation. His eyes roamed back looking for the young servant but she had already entered the ship or something, for she had disappeared. He shook his head and returned to the bridge, thinking that this trip would indeed be an adventure to be excited for.

Xxxx

A/N-Oof...a first chapter of a new story so close after I finished another story? What is this sorcery? Anyways...I have nothing much to say except I hope you enjoyed this first chapter...I'll be working on more on my next two days off of work! Please review and I shall give you cookies and tea!


	2. Thank You Very Much

Chapter 2

Thank You Very Much

"This room is so dreary!" Isabel declared as she fell down onto the sofa.

Charlotte hid her smile at Isabel's reaction and continued unpacking.

"Oh it's quite lovely I think," Luke, her fiancé said, looking around the room.

"Well you would say that I suppose, you are used to traveling back and forth on ships like this after all!" Isabel said, shrugging.

"Well this is by far the most luxurious state room I've ever seen," Luke told her.

"It's just all the same bland color," Isabel shrugged.

"Child, you make too much of a fuss!" her mother declared, entering the room.

"I suppose, mother."

"Charlotte?"

The young girl turned to look at Mrs. Phillips, "Yes ma'am?"

"As soon as you are finished unpacking in here, I want you to help Isabel to dress for afternoon tea. We have just been invited by Mr. Ismay who is in the rooms just across the hall from us," Mrs. Phillips explained.

"Ismay? That's quite splendid," Luke commented.

"Yes, the very same one who owns this little ship!" Mrs. Phillips beamed.

"Dear, I would hardly refer to the Titanic as a 'little ship,'" Mr. Phillips scolded as he entered the room.

Mr. Phillips was an older gentleman who had inherited most of his wealth and showed up for work at the steel firm he owned, maybe twice a week, leaving the rest of the work to his hired men and lawyers. He had a large round belly and you could usually tell when he was coming into the room because of the smell of cigars that seemed to follow him around. In their old age Mr. and Mrs. Phillips appeared to be an unlikely couple purely because Mrs. Phillips had retained her youthful beauty. Despite being older, Evelyn Phillips still had smooth skin, a warm smile, and her hair was the same shade of her daughters. People swore she simply had to be using some form of color to retain the shade, but Mrs. Phillips swore on all that was holy to her, that hair color had never touched her scalp.

Charlotte had a lot of respect for the Phillips as a couple and people. If she visited town on an errand, her fellow maids would spread rumors and whispers of their master and mistresses being miserable and this one was sleeping with that one. Charlotte said it showed how little respect those maids had for the men that gave them pay and a home, but she also knew that the Phillips were honestly and genuinely in love with each other, and they had been since they met twenty years before.

"Yes, yes, that is irrelevant right now," Mrs. Phillips responded. She beamed at Charlotte, "So tea is at one," she glanced at the clock, "So it is quarter to twelve and the ship is set to depart in thirty minutes and then we will be leaving at a quarter to one, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," Charlotte said, making mental notes of the times and where they needed to be and when.

"Very well, father and I are going up to the deck," Mrs. Phillips had returned her gaze to Isabel, "Do you wish to join us?"

"No mother, I would prefer to stay inside, but thank you," Isabel answered simply, her eyes fixed on the engagement ring on her finger.

Luke looked at his young bride, "Dear I think I shall join your parents, alright?"

"Very well, do as you wish," Isabel said, waving her hand.

He surveyed her for a moment and Charlotte knew that Luke was still trying to figure out how he was supposed to react to Isabel. He bent over and kissed her on the cheek and then followed her parents out of the room, leaving Isabel and Charlotte alone.

Once they heard the door close, Isabel sat up, "Now that they are gone we can talk!" She was grinning, "Sit down beside me, friend."

Charlotte set down the hat box that she had been holding and she sat down beside Isabel, "What is it, little one?" she asked.

Isabel scrunched up her face, "I am eighteen years old, hardly a little one!"

Charlotte waved her hand dismissively, "You were nine when I started to care for you, and I have been there with you through everything. You are always going to be little one."

Isabel waved her hand and said, "Anyway, what do you think of this ship?"

Charlotte gave a slight shrug, "Well given I have never been on a ship until this one, I have to say it is rather splendid. I am already concerned about getting lost if I have to run errands for you."

"Well that shall be easily rectified! Just remember our room number and I'm sure one of those handsome gentlemen officer fellows will help you out," Isabel said, smiling.

"You are quite silly, do you know that?" Charlotte asked.

"Maybe one will be so handsome and single. He can sweep you off your feet like what happened to Norma!"

Charlotte thought for a moment, trying to recall the tale of Norma Richardson. Norma lived in the house across the street from the Phillips and she was just a year older than Isabel. The two girls had been quite good friends at the girls school they both attended and they spent a lot of afternoons together as children. One summer the Richardson's announced they were going on a trip to America and when they returned a month and a half later, Norma came back as the wife of a Steward. The two had met and eloped the minute the ship made landfall, much to the Richardson's horror.

"Yes well, I think I would be much more likely to marry a Steward not an officer," Charlotte shrugged.

"You are definitely worthy of an officer and do not let _anyone_ tell you otherwise!" Isabel ordered.

Charlotte smiled, "Alright Izzie, but I have work to do in order for you to be able to dress and have tea with your family." Charlotte stood to her feet and continued her work, packing everything away and leaving out a single dress for Isabel to wear to afternoon tea.

Finally at half past twelve, they felt the ship start to move beneath their feet and that was Charlotte's cue to start getting Isabel ready for tea. She helped the girl into her dress and fixed her hair up which had fallen out of place because of the hat Isabel had worn to the docks. They applied fresh makeup and just as Luke was knocking on the bedroom door, Charlotte was stepping away from Isabel, deciding that she was done.

"That will be Master Crawford and your parents," Charlotte said.

Isabel giggled, "Master Crawford? Oh it's so funny, call him Luke, I beg of you!"

Charlotte shrugged, "To you perhaps, but until he tells me otherwise, when speaking to his face it must be Master Crawford." She smiled and straightened out her dress and apron before moving to the door of the bedroom. She opened it, "Miss Isabel is ready now."

"Thank you Charlotte," Luke said as Isabel left the room.

"I will see you in a bit," Isabel told Charlotte as she walked out of the room, her gown swishing behind her as she walked.

Charlotte sighed as she heard the door close. She stood for a moment, at a complete loss of what to do with herself. After a moment she finally moved to the private promenade deck and looked out of the windows. The ocean was racing past as the ship headed towards the horizon, bringing her closer with every second to her future and new life. She closed her eyes as salt water lightly spayed her face as the propellers kicked it up, but Charlotte didn't mind. The water was cool as it touched her skin and the speed of the ship produced a lovely breeze.

Her mind pondered upon what a life in Boston would bring. Jones had been telling her things he had heard down at the docks where the family purchased fresh fish for the home, and the men who had been to America would tell the tales of the buildings and institutions. Just in a few days as they would arrive in the city, Luke had mentioned that the new baseball arena would be opened for games. Charlotte did not pay much attention to sports and games like such, but she thought it would be a nice thing to see. Luke and Jones had both agreed that Fenway (the name given to the arena,) would be there for years to come. Isabel loved the idea of sitting up in big seats and watching games and so Luke had promised to take his bride there for a game, so Charlotte figured she would see a game at the arena regardless.

Charlotte sighed as she thought about the previous night and instinctively her hands reached up to grasp the chain that was around her neck, her fingers running over the smooth shape of the heart. She hoped to see Jones and Ethel again, it was her fondest hope. After another few moments, she decided it was not good to ponder on thoughts that made her quite so sad, because her mind threatened to visit thoughts of her parents, so she moved to the room she was staying in which was adjoining to Isabel's.

Charlotte's suitcase was sitting on the bed, waiting to be unpacked, so she set to work. There was a tall mahogany wardrobe in the corner of the room so she began to hang the two other dresses she owned for work, carefully folding her aprons and caps and putting them in a drawer. She hung her dress up that was for her day off and carefully put the two other pairs of shoes she owned into the bottom of the wardrobe. It was significantly emptier than Isabel's wardrobe, but it was all Charlotte owned.

Lastly, she checked on her mother's engagement ring which was still in the place where she had hidden it, and so Charlotte put the suitcase inside of the wardrobe. She stepped back to marvel at what she had accomplished, and carefully she closed the doors, keeping her things hidden from view. Finally Charlotte sat down on a chair in her bedroom for she was at quite a loss of what do with herself. Isabel had not indicated a time when they would back so Charlotte did not feel she could safely venture out of the room and explore, because she could not risk the Phillips returning and her not being there to help Isabel. So she remained in the chair, losing herself in thoughts of marriage, life, and death and how they were all affecting her life before any of them had even really happened to her.

It was quite a while before the Phillips and Luke returned but already Charlotte found herself preparing Isabel to take supper in the first class dining saloon. It had turned out that Bruce Ismay was quite good friends with Mr. Crawford, Luke's father, so he had invited Luke, Isabel, and the Phillips to dine for the rest of the journey at Mr. Ismay's table. Charlotte listened to Isabel discuss how terribly boring Mr. Ismay was and how all he ever wanted to discuss was about his ship and how big it was, how marvelous it was, and how well it ran. Charlotte commented that this Ismay fellow sounded incredibly conceited, which Isabel laughed at because she agreed with Charlotte's words.

"When I return from supper, you can have the rest of the evening off," Isabel said, a smile gracing her lips as she turned to face Charlotte. "I hear that the stewards and servants and such have their own dining room so you can go there to eat while I am gone."

Charlotte nodded, "Alright Isabel, I shall see you then."

Isabel smiled at Charlotte and then exited the room with her parents and Luke. Charlotte waited for a moment before exiting the room herself. She pocketed her key and walked up the hall, glancing around her at the light sconces on the walls, giving off a soft glow. Charlotte had no idea where she was going and she was rather concerned about getting lost. The halls were quiet due to everyone being at supper and Charlotte was rather pleased for that, simply for the chance to see the ship without being bothered.

After twenty minutes of searching, she could not find this mystical dining room and so she ventured up to the deck, hoping to find someone who could help her. Charlotte opened a door and stepped out into the cool evening. She looked up the deck to see the sun setting in the far distance and no one on deck. "That's just brilliant," she said aloud before heading down towards what she believed to be the stern.

Charlotte was almost to the bridge and stepped back, for out of the corner of her eye she had seen inside some windows that revealed men sitting around a table and eating. She frowned as conflicting ideas arose in her mind. Either she could enter and interrupt their meal without even having been asked, or she could continue on her way until she found a steward. She was just about to make the decision to move on when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Charlotte turned instantly and seeing it was an officer of the ship, she quickly curtsied, "Forgive me sir; I seemed to have lost my way. My mistress said the stewards and maids could all eat in the same dining room but I have not the faintest idea where the room is."

"Well I can definitely help you with that but please do not curtsey to me! I do not deserve the respect," the man told her, smiling.

Charlotte regained her posture, "Forgive me sir," she repeated.

He chuckled, "Nonsense, call me Charles...and what is your name?"

"Charlotte," she answered.

Charles smiled, "Very lovely name."

Charlotte gave a small smile, "Thank you."

He nodded, "Now, what you have stumbled upon here is where the officers dine. The dining hall for the stewards, stewardesses, maids, and the rest of the crew is down below decks. Come along with me and I can show you the way."

"Thank you Charles," she said, smiling.

"You're quite welcome."

The two walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the room, not too far from the staterooms. Charlotte shook her head, "I feel quite silly now, and I walked by this room but did not check!"

Charles shrugged, "An easy mistake, I assure you."

"Thank you Charles, I am very much in your debt," she smiled but then blanched as her stomach growled, "Forgive me!"

Charles chuckled again, "I think that was just your stomach saying 'Thank you,' as well. Not to worry."

Charlotte laughed, "Quite right. Well, I will not keep you any longer from eating; I should be going in case my mistress returns soon."

He nodded, "I'll be seeing you."

"Goodbye."

Charlotte stood at the doorway to the room and watched Charles walk up the hall. She shook her head, amazed by how kind he had been to her, and then she entered the room.

Charles entered the officer's dining room a moment later.

"What took you, Lights?" Murdoch asked.

"I was helping a passenger's maid find the dining room for the crew and such," Lightoller said as he took his hat off and set it down on the table beside him.

"What a proper little gentlemen we have!" Lowe said, laughing.

Charles gave him a look but said nothing. His mind was on the girl because he was trying to remember where he had seen her before. As he stuck a fork into some steaming vegetables that had been placed in front of him, the thought came to him. Charles had seen her before, just that morning helping the family she served board. He recalled thinking how lovely she looked in the sunlight and how the rays bounced off her hair, giving her an almost unearthly glow. Finally he shook his head and put Charlotte to the back of his mind, not out of his mind but just to the back.

**Xxx**

**A/N-Thoughts so far? I've been working on this since last night, but I've been distracted by movies and such. Please review and let me know! :)**


	3. One of Those Nights

Chapter 3

One of Those Nights

That evening, Charlotte dined at a table with maids of other first class passengers. She could spot them a mile away, though to many it may have looked like just a bunch of stewardess', but Charlotte noted that the stewards and stewardess had red flag lapel pins, so people knew who they worked for.

At the table, Charlotte met Rosalie Bidois who worked for the Astor family and Ms. Ellen Bird who worked for the Mrs. Straus. From these two maids, Charlotte learned stories of New York City and the American culture but Charlotte soon discovered that the two hadn't actually been to America yet and they were just telling her stories from books. However that discovery made everyone laugh and it made for an enjoyable supper.

The men made jokes which caused even more laughter and an overall enjoyable atmosphere. Soon people started saying good night because they had to attend to their masters and mistresses and so Charlotte took that as her cue to return to the stateroom.

Ten minutes hadn't passed when Charlotte heard the door open and she went out into the sitting room to greet Isabel, her parents, and Luke. She curtsied to show respect, "How was supper?" she asked.

Isabel was beaming, "Oh it was so lovely. The people were so kind and welcoming and we even met the Captain!"

"Well that is exciting!" Charlotte smiled.

"Come along and as you help me into my nightgown, I will tell you more!" Isabel said and she turned to Luke, "Good night love."

He kissed her on the cheek, "Good night Isabel."

Mr. Phillips kissed his only child on the forehead and then Isabel walked into her room, Charlotte following close behind.

"So as I was saying we met the Captain and he was so polite and interesting. We were subjected to the company of that Ismay again but we also met the Master Shipbuilder, Mr. Andrews, OH and we met the Astor's from New York!" Isabel said in a rush, her words spilling out on top of each other.

Charlotte hid her smile as she began help Isabel out of her dress, "Well I met the Astor's maid who was very funny. Actually everyone in that group was very funny; it was good company I found myself in."

"Were you able to find the room with no trouble?" Isabel asked as she stepped out of her dress.

Charlotte took the dress over to the wardrobe and hung it up before moving back to loosen the strings on Isabel's corset. "Well I admit I was a little lost and I found myself on the deck. I stopped at the room where the officers eat and one of them helped me to find the dining room for the servants and crew."

Isabel was momentarily distracted as the corset loosened and she was able to breathe again. Charlotte carefully replaced the corset where it belonged and pulled a nightgown out, which Isabel took and went behind a screen to change. "An officer?" Isabel finally asked.

Charlotte stood at Isabel's vanity as she began to put all of the jewelry and hair accessories away into the little jewelry box, "Yes an officer."

"Was he handsome?" Isabel asked, reappearing a moment later.

Charlotte turned to watch Isabel who was moving to a basin that stood near the door. She sat down and began to dip a cloth into the warm water and wiped her face, removing the traces of makeup.

"Well?" Isabel asked again after a moment.

"Well what?" Charlotte had clearly gotten lost in thought.

"Was the officer handsome?" Isabel repeated.

Charlotte shrugged, "I was not really paying attention."

Isabel made a noise of impatience and moved to her bed, "You are quite silly," she sat down and seemed lost in thought for a moment. Charlotte was about to ask if she was dismissed but then Isabel said, "Tomorrow after I have lunch, you and I shall take a leisurely stroll down the deck. We shall be keeping an eye out for your officer; I want to see if he deserves my Charlotte."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "And you say I am the silly one?" she shook her head; "I suppose there is no way out of it?"

Isabel had a glint in her eyes, one of pure joy, "Of course not."

Charlotte sighed, "Well if we are to be running off to find my one true love tomorrow, may I at least be excused to my bedroom so I can sleep?"

Isabel nodded, "Oh yes of course! I am quite exhausted from our trip this morning and I wish to be well rested tomorrow."

"Very well, good night Isabel," Charlotte said.

"Good night Charlotte," Isabel replied as she snuggled under the blankets.

Charlotte turned the lamp off and quietly exited the room, checking on Mr. and Mrs. Phillips to see if they required anything, and then after seeing they were fine, Charlotte retire to her own room. In the dim light she changed into a night gown and pulled the blankets down on her bed. She sat up in bed for a while, reading from the ship guide that had been given to all of the passengers. Finally sleep threatened to take her while the lights were still on, so Charlotte turned them off and curled under the blankets and within moments she was asleep.

The next day after lunch, true to her word, Isabel dragged Charlotte up on deck. Isabel had a parasol that Charlotte held up to shield them both from the sun light. It was a beautiful day and the passengers were taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Children were laughing and playing games, people were taking tea and reading, and then there was Isabel who was asking Charlotte every time they passed an officer, if that was the man she had met.

"Do you not have a wedding to plan?" Charlotte asked, trying to keep the annoyance from her voice but she was sure it was still evident.

Isabel simply shrugged, "My mother is handling what remains of the planning stages."

Charlotte was about to say something when she saw Charles and she stopped. Isabel looked at Charlotte and smirked, "_That's _him, is it not?"

Charlotte gave a curt nod just as he came up to them, "Ah, Charlotte wasn't it?" Charles asked, taking his hat off.

Charlotte nodded, "Yes sir."

"I thought we established there would be no formalities?" he asked, giving her a stern look.

Isabel was practically grinning like the Cheshire cat, "Hello officer, it is very lovely to meet you," she said.

Charles smiled at Isabel, "Hello," he bowed to her, "A pleasure to meet you, miss."

"And you sir," Isabel said, nodding her head to him.

Charles stood to his full height again, "Well Charlotte, did you get a good meal last night?"

"Yes Charles and again I thank you for all of your help," she said, refraining from smiling at him.

Isabel eyed the two, "Well Charlotte, I think I am going to return to my room to rest before lunch."

Charlotte looked at Isabel, "Alright miss."

"Oh no," Isabel took the parasol, "You stay up here, enjoy the sea breeze and all of that," she winked at Charlotte and then nodded at Charles before leaving.

Charlotte watched the young woman leave, irritation flaring up inside of her. Oh what she would give for that child to not be the reason she even has a job, if only for five minutes. Isabel always saw things as a game and it was moments like this where it drove Charlotte batty.

"Your young miss is an interesting character," Charles commented.

"Oh, you have no idea," Charlotte said. She turned to look at Charles, "I have been that child's maid since she was nine years old. I love her very much but sometimes she just-" Charlotte bit her lip, "Forgive me, I must not speak ill especially to a stranger."

Charles gave her a small smile, "Your words are safe with me."

Charlotte sighed, "I do not know you well enough, I guess..."

He nodded, "Fair enough."

The two stood there for a moment in a sort of awkward silence. Charles was trying to find something to say, to make small talk since he was on a break and there was a pretty girl standing there, but as usual, he could think of no words. Charlotte was also sharing in an equal battle of what to say to make the uncomfortable silence go away. She had never been alone with a man before and she was quite sure she had no idea what to do. It was an even stranger situation for her because of the fact she had just met him the night before and now they were being thrown together because of Isabel's silly little whims and ideas.

"So, have you been enjoying the journey so far?" Charles finally asked, deciding the ship was as good a subject as any to start.

Charlotte nodded, "Quite, this ship is beautiful and everything is so smooth."

"Had you ever been on a ship before?" he asked next.

"No, this is my first time crossing the Atlantic," she answered.

"Ah," Charles brightened as they found a subject that they could easily fall into. "And what brings the trip?" he asked, moving his hand to indicate they should walk and talk.

She gave Charles a small smile and began to walk away from the first class passengers and their children, towards the side of the ship, "Well Miss. Isabel is to be wed to some wealthy young man from Boston. She wanted me to come with her, to be her servant in America so I came along."

"Ah a wedding," he nodded, "That does seem to be a common theme with most ships."

Charlotte nodded and looked out at the ocean; it was vast, endless, and a little bit overwhelming.

Charles was about to say something but instead heard his name. Charlotte turned to see another officer, who appeared to be a tad bit younger than Charles beckoning him.

"I suppose I am needed," he sighed and looked at Charlotte, "It was lovely seeing you again."

She nodded, "Yes, very lovely."

He gave her a slight bow and then dashed off towards the officer who had called his name.

Charlotte watched the two men disappear into a room and she sighed deeply. She debated with herself whether or not she should return to the room yet. If she went back immediately, Isabel would think something had gone wrong, but if she waited then Isabel would think Charlotte and Charles had been talking together that entire time, no matter what Charlotte said. Finally she decided that returning to the stateroom would be the better option, despite the third degree that she was bound to receive from Isabel.

However, when Charlotte arrived at the room, she found that Isabel had gone to have tea with her parents and Luke. After seeing there was nothing in the room that she could do, Charlotte retired to her room and fell down on to the bed. She sighed deeply and stared up at the rich ceilings that were beautiful and glossy, giving off the new feeling. She was surrounded by so many new and strange things that she thought she might scream at it all. Charlotte closed her eyes and saw Ethel and Jones' faces vividly, smiling at her and telling her various stories and teaching her life lessons. She yearned for something familiar to anchor her back down so that she would not feel so lost.

Charlotte appreciated what Isabel was trying to do, to an extent anyways, but she had to make the girl realize that if love is to be in her future, it had to be in her own time. As she stayed in the bed, her fingers working on their own accord to flatten out the bed spread around her, she thought about the best way to approach the situation. Finally all she could think of was to sit Isabel down and tell her exactly how she felt about her playing matchmaker, being firm was the only way Charlotte could think of.

When Isabel finally returned, Charlotte rose from where she had been laying, straightened out her dress and apron, and left the room to greet the family.

"Charlotte!" Isabel exclaimed in surprise. Charlotte couldn't help but feel like Isabel was not expecting her to be back yet.

Charlotte gave a curtsey to show respect to Isabel's parents and to Luke, "I hope your tea was enjoyable," she said.

"Yes Charlotte, thank you," Mrs. Phillips said.

"Come along Charlotte," Isabel said as she started towards her room.

Charlotte followed Isabel to the room and they closed the door behind them. Almost instantly, Isabel pounced, "How was it? Is he nice and a perfect gentleman? What did you talk about? How long did you talk together? Tell me all about him!"

Charlotte felt like she was being attacked from multiple different points and she took a deep breath, "Look Isabel, I need you to not try and force something to happen between me and a man I just met. If something is to happen then it will happen, but in the meantime can you please let me do my job as your maid and not focus on my romantic life?"

Isabel stared for a moment at Charlotte, she was clearly taken aback by the girl's words and for a brief moment Charlotte worried she had said too much and had overstepped her boundaries. Finally Isabel spoke and she simply gave a shrug, "Well if you really feel that way, then of course I will forget the matter."

Charlotte gave Isabel a smile, "Thank you Izzie."

Isabel beamed, "I think I am going to lie down for a bit, I have not been feeling well since lunch. When it is nearly time for supper, will you wake me up so I do not miss it?"

"Of course Izzie," Charlotte said.

She helped the girl change out of her dress and Isabel climbed under the blankets, comfortable and happy to be out of her corset for a few hours. Charlotte placed a glass of water near the bed in case Isabel woke up and wanted some and then she quietly closed the door behind her.

Supper came and passed, with Charlotte making Isabel up to display her true beauty. Charlotte again dined with her fellow maids and made friends with the young French girl who worked for the Thayer family. The evening of the eleventh passed in a quiet and peaceful daze and Charlotte had remarked that if the rest of the journey had remained this calm, she would be content. Later she would remark she wished she had kept her mouth shut.

Xx

A/N I'm sorry this took so long...I've been UN-inspired and then just plain busy...I am running on fumes right now as I type this...I can barely spell things right...

so yeah.

Enjoy and review, love you.


	4. Friend of Mine

Chapter 4

Friend of Mine

"Charlotte, we are going to be eating lunch at the restaurant today and I want you to accompany us," Isabel announced the next morning.

The family had just returned from breakfast and Charlotte had been seated on the promenade deck as she sewed some buttons back onto Mr. Phillips coat. She had a pile of mending to do and was only now finding time to get some of it done because she wasn't distracted by the jobs she had back at home. Charlotte slowly pulled the thread through a hole in the button and tied it off, snipping the thread with a pair of scissors. "Alright Miss. Isabel," Charlotte said as she stood up and held the jacket up, "Mr. Phillips, I replaced the buttons on your dinner jacket," she said.

Mr. Phillips glanced at the coat over the brim of his glasses. Carefully he set his medical journal down and stood to his feet, "Thank you Miss. Charlotte," he said, taking the black coat from her hands, "It looks quite handsome now."

"You're quite welcome sir," Charlotte replied, beaming.

At eleven-thirty, Charlotte prepared Isabel for lunch and then followed closely behind the family as they walked up the first class hallways and a moment later they entered the À la Carte Restaurant . Everywhere Charlotte looked, she saw beautiful French inspired furniture that reminded her of a trip to Paris that Isabel took when she was fifteen. Charlotte was just about to reach out and run her hand over a nearby table when she heard a voice call, "Phillips old man!" She looked and saw a man at a table in the corner, away from everything else. He had on a black coat with a red vest underneath. His brown hair was slicked down and his mustache was impeccably groomed. The family walked over to the table and the man in the coat shook hands with Mr. Philips and Luke, and then bowed to Mrs. Phillips and Isabel. He didn't pay any attention at all to Charlotte but she was not affected by it because she was used to that sort of treatment.

"We just have one more person joining us, I hope that will be alright with you all," the man said.

"Of course Mr. Ismay," Mrs. Phillips said, beaming.

So this was the Ismay fellow that Isabel had been talking about and on that she noticed Isabel giving her a pointed look. Charlotte shook her head, hiding a smile.

"Who is joining us, Bruce?" Mr. Phillips asked.

"Captain Smith," Ismay answered.

"Did I hear my name?"

Everyone turned to see the Captain, but he was not alone. Charlotte inhaled sharply as her eyes fell on Charles Lightoller.

"Ah Edward, I see you've brought Mr. Lightoller," Bruce commented.

"Yes well it was either this or we both would not have been able to eat. I am sorry to say I will have to mix business with pleasure today," Captain Smith said.

Charles eyed Charlotte and gave her a smile and a polite nod of the head. She returned the polite nod but refrained from smiling so she did not run the risk of giving him the wrong idea.

"That is fine, we completely understand Edward," Mr. Philips said.

Everyone was seated, with Charles in between Isabel and the Captain, but he was seated directly across from where Charlotte was standing. During the entire meal, Charlotte worked harder than she had ever done before, and that was working on not smiling back at Charles. The family, Mr. Ismay, Captain, and Charles all enjoyed tea and lighthearted chat. Typically a person would have been bothered by people eating in front of them, especially when they could not eat, but years of having to put her sometimes exhaustive duties first worked in Charlotte's favor.

"So see the current aim is to make it into New York Harbor by Tuesday evening, but all of that is quite hush, hush right now," Ismay said smiling, "We do not want it going around the ship because we want everyone to be quite surprised."

Charlotte couldn't help it but she found herself listening in on the conversation.

"Yes but the-" Charles haltered because he wasn't sure what was acceptable to say in front of passengers.

Captain Smith took a deep breath, "Bruce you know how I feel on the matter and I do not wish to discuss this right now."

"The Captain wants to play it safe and be coy, but Titanic is unsinkable. We built this ship to last and I promise you in twenty years this ship will still be making voyages!" Bruce beamed.

Charlotte could tell that Charles was about to speak but the Captain gave him a look that cut him off.

Isabel through all of this had been pretending to be thoroughly enamored by her glass of water. She would later tell people that the meals on that ship, specifically lunch time with Ismay was some of the most dulling hours of her life. Finally she looked up, "Well I must say all of this unsinkable stuff is quite queer to me."

Everyone turned to look at Isabel, "What do you mean child?" Mr. Ismay asked.

She gave a slight shrug, "Well nothing is fool proof and when you throw words around like "unsinkable," I just feel like you are challenging God."

"Ah normally yes, but this ship is strong. I believe God is smiling upon the Titanic, why would he strike down something he smiles on?" Ismay asked.

Isabel gave a slight shrug and everyone moved on to a new topic. Only Charles and Charlotte heard her mutter, "Well I'm sure God _smiled _upon Sodom and Gomorrah at one point too."

Finally they seemed to be finishing up and Isabel stood to her feet with Luke beside her, "Charlotte?"

"Yes miss?" Charlotte asked.

"Luke is going to escort me back to my room so I can rest before supper. You may go and take some time to yourself, I am sure you are famished," Isabel answered.

"Thank you Miss," Charlotte said.

Charlotte was on her way out of the restaurant when she heard what sounded like an argument between Lightoller and Ismay. She began to move slower so she could still hear the conversation but not make it look like she was eavesdropping.

"Mr. Lightoller, as you are only the second officer-"

"I was supposed to be the first!" he hissed.

There was a silence as Ismay decided to ignore the comment, "As you are only the second officer and neither the chief nor the Captain, I would expect you to hold your tongue on such matters as routes, unsinkable ships, and ice fields! Is that understood?"

There was another pause, a long and uncomfortable silence, and then finally, "Yes sir."

Charlotte was almost to the door when she heard a quick pace behind her and then watched as Charles brushed past her. She glanced back at Ismay and the Captain who were still talking in a hushed voice and a moment later Charlotte rushed out after Charles. She glanced out on the deck and saw Charles leaning against a wall, his eyes fixed on the ground to keep the sunlight out. She tentatively approached him, "Charles?" she asked.

Charles looked up at her, bringing his hand to his forehead to shield the light. Charlotte figured he must have left his hat back in his room or something, for it was nowhere in sight.

"Oh hi Charlotte," he said.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, walking so that they were now facing each other.

Charles shrugged, "Yes I suppose it will be," he smiled at her, "I just loathe this unsinkable nonsense. In fact, all of the officers hate it because it's just not true. I do not honestly believe there is something God can't do if he puts his mind to it."

Charlotte nodded, "People also did not think the Earth was going to flood either, but it did and it proved that God is still very much in control," she shrugged, "I agree with you, all of this unsinkable stuff is arrogance. It is a beautiful ship and I do believe that they did a marvelous job building it, but that does not hinder me each night from praying for a safe journey."

Charles smiled, "You and that Isabel are quite clever young women."

Charlotte felt her neck flush and she simply shrugged again, "Well Isabel's parents do not keep things from her and her father lets me read his science and medical journals."

"Really?" Charles was clearly surprised.

She nodded, "Really."

"That's quite brilliant really," he had obviously not heard of women having such a luxury in this day and age.

Charlotte smiled, "In the Phillips household the women, even the maids, are treated with equal respect."

"I'm glad to see it; all of this equality nonsense should not even be a question. Women are not below men and society needs to stop acting like they are," Charles said.

In those brief words, Charlotte felt her heart swell with affection and respect for Charles. "Thank you," she said finally, "That means a lot to me."

He gave a small smile and then finally said, "You know at this hour there won't be any food left in the stewards dining room," Charles paused, "But the officers dining room always has food, you want to come along?"

Charlotte bit her lip, "I don't want you to go out of your way for my sake."

Charles gave a nonchalant wave of the hand, "I think I left my hat back there anyways, so I need to track it down."

Charlotte found the corners of her mouth twitching up into a smile, "Alright...lead the way."

Charles moved so that he was no longer leaning against a wall, he stood up straight and waited until Charlotte was beside him before he began to walk.

"So what is your story?" he asked after a brief moment of silence.

She looked up at him, bringing her own hand up to block the sunlight out of her face, "How do you mean?"

Charles glanced down at her, his eyes fixing briefly on the way the sunlight was bouncing off of her blonde hair, almost giving her the appearance of wearing a halo. "How did you come to work for Isabel and her family?" He specified.

A look of realization dawned upon her face and she nodded, "My parents worked for them actually. My daddy drove their carriage and my mother was Mrs. Phillip personal maid. I was born in the Phillips home and I lived a pretty simple life, actually." Charlotte was quiet for a moment because she did not like speaking about her parent's deaths, "Then when I was eleven my father got a cold and the doctor gave him medicine and said to rest. Daddy never rested though and he always worked, well eventually he passed it on to my mother and she begged Mrs. Phillips to put me in another room so I would not catch whatever it was that plagued them."

Charles listened with careful attention, realizing it was becoming difficult for her to finish. He opened the door to the dining room and silently indicated that she should enter the room.

Charlotte walked into the room and sat down at a table, folding her hands in her lap as Charles sat down beside her. "For my twelfth birthday my parents made arrangements with the Phillips for me to visit my old aunt in the country side. I left the day after but there were not really any celebrations of it at home in London, mama and papa were too sick. So the day after my birthday I arrived and that same night, word arrived by messenger that my father had died and two hours later my mother had died as well," she brushed a stray tear away and laughed with a tone of bitterness, "The doctor still has no idea what killed them."

There were a few seconds that passed in a tense silence. Charles wanted to say something, but what could he say to a girl who had lost both of her parents at such a young age?

"So needless to say, I never feel up to celebrating my birthday because I know the morning after always brings the memories of my parents dying...and I wasn't even there to say goodbye."

Charles looked at her, "When was this?"

Charlotte looked up and thought, "They died thirteen years ago this coming Tuesday."

There was silence and then, "So you're turning twenty five on Monday?"

Charlotte laughed again, "Yes...I will be an old maid."

Charles eyed her for a moment, "You're not that old, not really. I just turned thirty-eight," he confessed.

She scrunched up her nose, "Oh you're too old!"

Charles pretended to be offended, "I resent that sentiment."

Charlotte found it easy to laugh despite the emotions that had threatened to drown her a moment before, but she was glad that the conversation was moving away from her parents, "Charles, I think you will be just fine."

He smiled at her, "Alright now...you are hungry." Charles stood to his feet and moved over to where there were some trays with covered food. His own meal that had been prepared for him was still sitting on the tray, so he carefully picked it up and brought it over to her. "As I ate lunch, I will require this meal."

Charlotte smiled as she moved to face the table. Charles set the plate in front of her and removed the tray, revealing a lovely spread of potatoes and beef tips in a gravy sauce. "This looks lovely Charles, thank you."

He waved his hand, "Ah I simply found a meal, and the brilliant chefs are the real men to thank."

"I will be sure to get the word to them," Charlotte said, smiling.

They spent the rest of the hour as Charlotte ate, talking and getting to know one another. Charles found it easy to be himself around the girl and thus he was coming up with clever jokes which made the girl laugh, and he soon decided Charlotte's laugh was the best thing he had ever heard.

Finally they had to part their ways for Charles had to return to work. They walked together back to the entrance into the ship and stopped, smiling at each other.

"What will you do now?" Charlotte asked.

Charles thought, "Most likely after I report to the deck I may put in a few hours, and then take a break so I will need to get some sleep while I can. Then I will probably be on the night shift tonight with Lowe or one of the boys."

"Well if I do not see you again tonight, which is not likely because I keep a strict bed time," they both laughed, "So I will see you tomorrow perhaps."

"Perhaps," Charles smiled at her.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lightoller."

"Good afternoon, Miss. Bennet."

Charlotte felt as if she was walking on air when she returned to the stateroom. Once inside the room she saw Isabel emerge from her room, with a coy smile on her face, "Hello Charlotte," Isabel greeted.

Charlotte smiled, "Hi Izzie."

"Did you enjoy your lunch?" Isabel asked slowly, fully entering the stateroom.

She had since changed out of her lunch dress and was wearing, what Charlotte presumed would be her dress for supper. The time had already approached four and Charlotte realized they had been talking in the Officers dining room for much longer than an hour. It hadn't seemed like she had been with him for that long.

"Charlotte?"

"Yes Izzie?"

Isabel was smiling again, "I said did you enjoy lunch?"

"Quite..."

Isabel was grinning now, "I saw you follow after Lightoller, you know."

Charlotte gave a shrug, "He is very sweet...very much a gentleman."

"Well I am glad to hear that you seemed to have...made a friend," Isabel said, her long slender fingers had reached up and were twirling around one of her loose strands of hair.

"Yes...a new friend," Charlotte mused as she disappeared into her own stateroom.

Isabel listened as the door closed and she simply grinned.

**XX**

**A/N-**

**Sorry this took so long...I am seriously so ADD with this story...I write like a paragraph and then I go off and get lost on facebook..**

**never mind the fact I've worked the last 6 days straight and tomorrow is my first day off in a week...**

**Also I**** watched Titanic earlier...cause I have no life.**

**So yeah...thoughts on the chapter? Hit me up...let me know what you think should happen!**


	5. Gossip

Chapter 5

Gossip

"So, how was lunch with the Captain and Ismay?"

Charles had just returned to the bridge and he had been checking with Hitchens on location and where they were in the schedule, when Pittman had walked in the room followed by Murdoch and Lowe. It had been Lowe that spoke first.

Charles shrugged as she moved to check the clock and wrote something down on a slip of paper, "Boring...and Ismay went on and on once more about how unsinkable the ship is and that God is smiling on us and all of that nonsense."

Pittman shook his head, "What a load of rubbish."

"And he was pressuring the Captain to speed up so we can get into New York early, all for the fame and glory of J. Bruce Ismay and his company," Charles said as he pocketed the notebook and looked at the other officers.

"Careful that no one hears you, Charles," Will told him, a warning tone in his voice.

Charles nodded; "I know..." he shrugged.

"So how come you're back so late?" Hitchens asked.

"Ah well the family we were dining with, their maid hadn't eaten and I knew the stewards dining room would be cleaned up by now so I gave her my lunch that had been prepared and was in the officers dining room," Charles explained with a shrug.

Harold and Herbert both grinned at each other, "Look at Charles, being a dashing Officer," Harold started.

Charles gave Harold a look but before he could say anything, Herbert piped in, "Is she pretty?"

Charles mustered a stern look, "I am not sure what that has to do with anything."

"Ah Bert old fellow, Charles is avoiding answering the question so we know the true answer. This girl must be gorgeous," Harold said.

Charles noticed Will smiling to himself as he walked into the map room and scowled, "Get back to work."

Herbert scowled and walked off, presumably to patrol the decks or something of the sort. Charles watched him leave and then turned back to Lowe who was still standing there, a grin plastered on his face.

"I'm off duty," he answered, grinning.

"Then maybe you should be sleeping," Charles offered.

Harold shrugged and gave a big and dramatic yawn, "Oh I don't know, I like standing here and watching you be flustered."

"Go to your quarters, Harold!" they heard a voice from the map room call.

Harold frowned glancing at the entrance as William poked his head out, "That is an order from your first Officer."

Harold grumbled something under his breath and walked away, like a child who had just been grounded. Charles watched him go and simply shook his head before joining Will, "Thanks old man."

Will shrugged, "Time and a place for everything, right?"

Charles gave a slight shrug, "They are good officers, but pains when they decide to act like they are still fifteen."

"Agreed."

xx

That evening, Isabel returned before the rest of her family from supper. Charlotte had eaten a light meal and had returned to the stateroom, where she had been sitting near a lamp and was now working on a dress she had been making. It was another one of the things that had been waiting to be finished and she only now had time to finish it. She had saved up for the fabric and had been working on it for about a month now. Charlotte wanted a nice and relatively formal dress simply for church and now she was so close, she thought it might be nice to wear to the ships services on Sunday morning.

She looked up; pins in her mouth as she saw Isabel enter. Carefully Charlotte removed the pins from her mouth, "You're early," she commented.

Isabel shrugged, "I was not feeling very much up to socializing tonight," she smiled and walked over to Charlotte's side, sitting down in the arm chair across from her, "Can I help?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "If you would like," she looked at her pieces and the skirt that she was working on, "You can sew the sleeves onto the bodice?"

Isabel took the pieces where they had been cut out and after fixing a needle and thread, the two women worked in silence, sewing together.

Finally after a long period of silence, Isabel looked up, "So was I right?"

Charlotte tore her gaze from the hem line of the skirt, "About what?"

"Well about Mr. Lightoller," Isabel said slowly.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "And what about Mr. Lightoller made you right?

Isabel had a bemused look on her face, "Well about him being nice and lovely."

Charlotte rolled her eyes but she couldn't help her lips from forming into a tiny grin, "While he is very kind and lovely towards me, I will not allow the words, "Isabel Phillips was right," to pass my lips. I shall not give you that sort of satisfaction."

Isabel giggled, "Fair enough."

There was another pause as the women resumed their sewing and then this time Isabel spoke without looking up from the delicate fabric that was in her hands, "Will you be seeing him again?"

Charlotte bit her lip, focusing on the needle in her hands as she tried to get it to pull through the fabric into a tight stitch. Finally as the needle pulled through the fabric she nodded, "Yes, I most likely will."

Isabel was beaming and she returned to her work.

Charlotte watched Isabel for a moment and then simply shook her head before continuing with the work.

**Xx**

**A/N- This chapter was very short, I know...but I wanted a kind of brief filler..and otherwise it was going to be at**** least another day or two before an update because I'm going on a mom/daughter date tonight with my mom to see The Avengers (my third time, her first) and then tomorrow we're going to be gone ALL DAY. ****Anyways...I suspect I'll probably be working from tomorrow straight until Monday because I'm going out of town for a few days...but once I'm out of town I'll actually be able to update...though I won't on the second because I'll be in DC all day...so please review this short little thing...sometimes short is better though...right?**


	6. Master and Servant

**Warning to all before they read this: This chapter contains a situation involving attempted rape. You have been warned.**

**xxx**

Chapter 6

Master and Servant

"You went to sea at thirteen years old?" Charlotte exclaimed.

Charles laughed and nodded, "Yes at only thirteen, I went off to sea. I was on the Primrose Hill and then I went to the Holt Hill which was demasted twice. The first time we had to make port in Rio de Janeiro during a revolution and a small pox epidemic. The second time we were stranded on a four and a half mile island in the Indian Ocean, for eight days. That year I spent Christmas in Adelaide."

Charlotte shook her head as she listened to his words, "That sounds like quite an adventure."

The two were walking down the deck together while the Phillips were at lunch and after Charlotte had eaten quickly, she had ventured up to the deck to find Charles. She ran into him as he was coming out of the officer's dining room and they had since been walking together, swapping more stories, and that had been about an hour ago.

"Well I have also survived a cyclone while at sea," he said, smiling. Charlotte had the impression he was quite proud of that little fact. "And after three years I also survived a bout of Malaria while on the West African Coast."

Charlotte stared at him, "Someone must really like you...or they are enjoying putting the fear of God into you."

Charles laughed, "I have one more."

She faked a groan, "You are a mess.

He grinned, "Well while I was in Calcutta I sat for my second mate's certificate, which I passed. Then I was the third mate on the Knight of St. Michael and coal caught fire. My "successful efforts," however garnered my promotion to second mate."

"A fire?" Charlotte asked her eyebrows were raised into some form of disbelief.

Charles laughed, "Yes, a fire."

She shook her head, "And so has that just been it then? Sailing and seeing the world since you were thirteen?"

"Well I went to the Yukon in Eighteen hundred and ninety-eight to search for gold," he said with a shrug.

"How did that work out for you then?"

Charles gave her a pointed look, "If I had struck gold, I very much doubt I would be a second officer on the Titanic right now."

Charlotte gave a small giggle, "Yes I suppose you are right about that."

"So after that failed I returned to England just before the turn of the century and by nineteen-hundred I was with the White Star Line."

Charlotte had a small smile on her face as she listened, "Now here you are, thirty-eight and no wife, and Isabel thought I was bad to be nearly twenty-five and unwed."

He shrugged, "Hard to find love when you're busy saving everyone else and trying to find gold."

She considered him for a moment, trying to figure out if the comment was intended to be mocking or not. Finally Charlotte decided he had been sincere and just smiled again, "Very true."

They continued walking together in a comfortable silence, glancing around at their surroundings every so often to take in the passengers, the beautiful day, and the sounds and smells of the ocean below them.

"So I gather that in the last hour or so, I have told you everything there is to really know about me," Charles finally said.

"We've been here an hour already?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow.

Charles nodded, "More or less."

Charlotte sighed, "I really should get back to my room," she glanced to a nearby door, "I do not want them to worry about me."

Charles gave a sad smile, "Yes I should probably return to the bridge." There was a moment of silence and then, "On Monday I am going to be tied up because we are going to be drawing ever closer to New York and the last couple of days are critical," he began.

Charlotte looked up at him, "Okay?" She was clearly perplexed about where this was all heading.

"So I was wondering if tomorrow evening you would consider joining me...during my supper break," he continued, "As your birthday celebration." There was a long moment of silence and then, "It's just, I know your birthday holds terrible memories for you and I just thought it would be nice to have a little supper...to give you a good memory of the day."

There was a long moment of silence as the impact of Charles words hit her. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime to Charles, she looked up at him and gave him a smile, "That sounds so lovely.

Charles exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and he beamed at her, "Okay that's brilliant. I will pick you up tomorrow at seven-thirty."

Charlotte nodded, "Tomorrow at seven-thirty," she said, and before turning to leave she pecked him on the cheek.

Charles stared after her as she returned to the first class entrance.

Xx

That evening, Charlotte had a light meal and returned to her room. She had originally planned to wear her new dress to Sunday services but now she had decided to wear it to the supper with Charles. So with this in mind she sat down with the dress and her sewing box. All that was left to do was to attach the bodice to the skirt and it would be totally done.

An hour or two passed and again Isabel was the first to return. Her eyes fell on Charlotte and she came over to her quickly, "Charlotte, I need to speak to you about something," she said.

Charlotte looked up at the girl, picking up on a tone of urgency in Isabel's voice, "What is it Izzie?" she asked, setting her needle and thread down.

Isabel took a deep breath, "Well it's Luke," she answered slowly.

Charlotte's brows knitted together in confusion, "What is wrong with Luke?"

"Nothing...exactly," Isabel sighed, she took a deep breath and then started, "I love Luke very much and I want to make him happy. He says he loves me and because of...this he says it does not matter until we wait until our wedding night. He wants to be with me...in the way a man and wife are to be together."

Charlotte's eyes widened, "What did you tell him?"

Isabel sighed, "I said yes because I felt pressured to!"

Charlotte sighed and ran a hand over her face, "Oh my sweet child."

Isabel looked down, a look of contrition was painted on her face, "But I am not ready and I want to wait."

Charlotte studied the girl for a moment, "Then my dear child all you can do is go to him and tell him you want to wait. You will be married in a week and a half and if he actually loves you as he claims then he can wait. It will mean much more to the both of you anyway if you wait."

Isabel looked up at her maid and nodded, "Thank you Charlotte," she said.

Charlotte watched as Isabel turned and left the room again and she simply shook her head.

When Isabel returned, this time with her parents, Charlotte was just finishing up the dress. She stood to her full height and curtsied out of respect to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and then carried the dress into her room and went to Isabel's to help her change.

"How did things go?" Charlotte asked as she moved to help Isabel out of her dress.

The girl had been sitting at her vanity, taking her hair down from its elaborate design, leaving pins and clips on the table and she gave a slight shrug, "He said he respected my decision," she hesitated, "But I could tell he was upset."

Charlotte sighed, "Well Isabel, you did the right thing, okay?"

Isabel nodded, "I know."

Charlotte could tell Isabel was not convinced and she honestly had no idea what to say to the girl. Instead she worked in silence, unlacing Isabel's corset and then she carefully hung her dress back up as Isabel changed for bed.

"I am sure," Charlotte finally said, "That come morning and a good dosage of scripture will do him some good. He will be okay in the morning."

Isabel was sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair out gently, "You think so?"

Charlotte gave Isabel a smile, "Good night Isabel, I will see you in the morning."

Charlotte turned the light off and retired to her own room. She sat for a while, looking at the dress she had made and she felt a sense of pride and a rush of excitement at the thought of Charles seeing her in it. She soon changed into her nightdress, turned the light off, and fell asleep.

Charlotte could not have been asleep for more than two hours when her door opened and a figured entered the room, quietly closing the door behind her. But it wasn't until she felt the mattress dip down and a figure laid on top of her, placing kisses to her neck that she actually woke up. Her sleepy state addled her brain for a moment as she tried to figure out what was happening and then she smelled alcohol and lots of it, and then a voice, "I know what you said earlier but I just cannot wait. In another week we'll be married and it won't matter either way, rings on our fingers will not make things any different."

At these words she was wide awake, "Master Luke?" she hissed.

He laughed, the stench of brandy almost drowning her, "Yes that's right. I am your Master, your husband soon enough."

Charlotte tried to push him away but he was stronger than her, "I am not your wife nor will I ever be!" she hissed.

But he just would not listen and one of his hands moved to the strings on her nightdress and loosened it where it was tied around her neck. Charlotte would have screamed when she felt his cold hand cup her breast but his free hand covered her mouth, "Don't cry out."

She stared at him, fear coursing through her veins and the next chain of events went through in a flash. Charlotte bit down on his hand as hard as she could muster and at this he swore loudly and fell off of her, cradling his hand. Charlotte didn't know if she had broken the skin, but she hoped she had. She climbed off of the bed, pulling her nightgown tight to cover her exposed flesh. Charlotte was about to grab her coat and run out of the room but she heard him stagger to his feet and then all she knew was he was coming after him and she had to stop him. Charlotte ducked as he reached out to grab her and then she turned looking for something, anything, her hand grasped down on her father's bible that was sitting on a desk. It was a large and old volume and she brought it down on top of Luke's head as hard as she could muster. Luke said nothing as he fell to the floor unconscious. Charlotte stared at him for a moment and she carefully set the bible down as shock coursed through her veins about what she had just done. She stared at him and when she felt fat tears well in her eyes she turned and ran out of her room and out of the stateroom, leaving her jacket and shoes, and keeping her grip on her nightdress so she would not reveal herself.

Charlotte ran for what seemed like ages, tears streaming down her face, and it wasn't until she made it outside onto the deck, a rush of cold air slamming up against her body, that she even realized where she was. The door closed behind her and she came to a stop, slowly walking out. The wooden floor boards were cold and the air was bitter, biting her skin and making the hairs on her arms completely stand up. She stared around and not a soul was to be seen. Charlotte looked up into the dark sky and she stared at the stars and felt another sob force its way up as she thought about her parents. She could not figure out if she was more upset that someone had just attempted to rape her or if it was because that someone was Luke, Isabel's fiancée, and she had knocked him unconscious. Finally she determined it had to be a mixture of both and this just caused her to cry harder. Isabel set her hand down on the rails of the ship, but they were iced over and stung her hand. Charlotte looked down at her flimsy night dress and once more felt a wave of emotions. Carefully, holing the fabric still, Charlotte moved to a chair and sat down. The chair was cold, like everything else on the deck, but she ignored it.

Eventually the tears stopped and Charlotte stayed on the bench, her hair blowing in the cold wind. She felt like a lifetime could pass her by as she sat there and she wouldn't even notice. Finally, after a long time a familiar voice pulled her from retreating into herself.

"Charlotte?"

She looked up and saw Charles standing, not three feet away from her, staring at her with confused and concerned eyes. "Oh, hi," she said, her voice soft and far away.

He approached her and sat down beside her, his hand was warm when it came up to cup her cheek, "Charlotte what are you doing out here? You are ice cold." Charlotte looked at him as he began to remove his jacket and put it around her shoulders. The coat was heavy and his body heat was still sealed inside it.

Charlotte looked away for a moment and when she looked back at Charles, the tears had welled up in her eyes again. She buried her face into his chest and cried violent sobs that shook her whole body. Charles wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, he found himself alarmed by how cold she was. "Charlotte, I need you to take a deep breath and explain to me what happened."

Charlotte inhaled deeply several times and then finally began her story, explaining from when Isabel had come in the room confused and upset over what Luke had wanted, and she finished with her hitting Luke over the head and fleeing from the room without another thought.

Charles had been quiet the entire time as he listened to her story and by the time she was done he felt anger coursing through his veins, but he said nothing. They sat there together, his arms still around her, and finally he spoke, "Alright Charlotte...we need to get you inside before this weather makes you sick."

"I can't go back Charles, I can't."

"I know," Charles sighed, "Look my shift is over but you can stay in my room and I can bunk on the floor."

Charlotte detached herself from him, looking up at him, "Oh Charles, I could not possibly do that."

He brushed one of her strands of hair out of her face that had stuck to her skin from her tears, "Yes you could and you will we are not going to argue about it."

Charlotte stared at him and in those few seconds, despite everything that had happened to her in the last four hours; she leaned and pushed her lips against his. It was a kiss of desperation and need, a kiss of gratitude, but most of all it was a kiss of love. Love simply because he barely knew her and now he was basically promising to take care of her in her most desperate hour. When they pulled apart he kissed her on the forehead, "Come on," he said gently.

Charles stood to his feet and Charlotte followed suit, holding his coat around her small frame. He wrapped an arm around her and led her to the row of officer's quarter, and he quietly opened the door, leading her into a dimly lit room. Charlotte looked around the room, her body instantly warming up now that she was no longer in the cold. The room wasn't very big and a bed sat in a corner across from a trunk that had Charles initials on the front as well as a White Star Line flag. She moved and sat down on the bed and watched as he pulled a spare blanket and pillow out of his wardrobe and threw the down onto the floor.

"Charles," she began, "I will have to be back before anyone is up tomorrow, I do not want Isabel and her parents to wake up and find me missing."

He had moved behind the door of the wardrobe for discretion has he changed into his pajamas and he emerged a moment later, "What are you going to do about Mr. Crawford?" he asked.

Charlotte sighed, "I do not know yet, but what I do know is I need to be there in the morning to wake them for breakfast and to help Isabel ready for church. After the services I will figure out what to do, but I need you to wake me up early."

He thought for a moment, "Well my shift starts at six-thirty, so I could wake you up then?"

Charlotte nodded, "Yes, I think that would be fine."

There was a moment of silence and then, "Alright well that already is going to be in a few hours, so try to get some sleep."

She nodded and pulled the blanket up over herself before removing the jacket. Charles took the coat and hung it up in the wardrobe and while he was distracted with that, she quickly tied her nightdress back so it was no longer loose on her.

"Good night Charles," she said after she had gotten herself situated in the bed.

He turned to look at her and tried to smile at her, "Good night Charlotte."

**xx**

**A/N- So longer chapter to counteract the last short one. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter...I went a little dark here and I hope I made it work. Thanks for reading and please leave me notes to wake up to. Night!**


	7. Dangerous to Know

Chapter 7

Dangerous to Know

It wasn't long at all until Charles was gently shaking Charlotte awake. She looked up at him, her eyes bleary with sleep.

"I almost wanted to leave you, you were sound asleep," he said quietly, "But I knew you would be irritated with me if I had left you in here."

Charlotte glanced at the lamp that was giving off a dim light, "What time is it?" she asked finally.

"Six-thirty," he replied.

Charlotte sat up and ran a hand through her tangled mess of hair and sighed, "Alright, I'm up."

Charles hid his smile by turning to pick up a coat that he had draped across the back of his chair, "Look I figured it would be better if you weren't walking around on the ship in your night dress when there are going to be people running around preparing for breakfast. I found my civilian jacket so you can wear that until you return to your room, okay?"

Charlotte stood up and slipped her arms into the coat and buttoned it up, "Thank you so much Charles, for everything."

"Of course," Charles said, and he wondered briefly if the kiss they had shared the night before would be brought up.

Charlotte stood there for a moment and then reached over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I will see you in a bit."

He gave her a smile and then opened the door to his room, stepping out first to make sure there were no officers standing around. Once he was sure no one would see a woman leaving his room, in his own coat, he led her to the first class entrance. Charlotte glanced back at Charles once she was inside but a sound up the hall spurred her to hurry back to her room. Quietly she opened the door and entered, the first rays of sunlight streaming through the windows. Charlotte moved like a mouse, years of work as a mouse when she had to be there without making a sound so she would not interrupt anything or anyone, came to her aid. To her immense relief, her room was empty and no sign that Luke had been there showed. Carefully she hung Charles' coat up in the back of the wardrobe and then locked her bedroom door and removed her nightdress so she could run some warm water and bathe. It felt wonderful to feel the water splash against her skin and even better when she washed her hair. Charlotte dressed in her Sunday dress and then brushed out her long hair and fixed it up in the normal way she wore it. By the time she was done with all of this, she saw she had to wake the family, so Charlotte left the room and knocked on the door to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips room, calling through the door until she heard an acknowledgment of her presence. Charlotte then moved to Isabel's room and knocked gently before entering.

Isabel was sound asleep and she looked peaceful in her big warm bed. It occurred to Charlotte as she moved to get a church dress out of the wardrobe that Luke had been intending to sleep with Isabel the night before. Even his own words implied he thought he had made it to Isabel's bedroom, and the idea shook her to the core. She was angry at Luke for attempting to rape her, but even angrier because he had thought she was Isabel. Charlotte did not just work for Isabel, she honestly loved and cared for the girl, and Charlotte was going to make sure that no one ever hurt Isabel.

After a moment Charlotte shook her head, trying to lose herself of the thoughts for the time being so she could wake Isabel up. The girl woke after only a moment or two and it took a few moments of rousing to get Isabel fully awake and aware of her surroundings.

"How did you sleep last night, Charlotte?" Isabel asked as she ran a brush through her hair.

Charlotte was silent as she thought about the best way to answer and finally she decided to wait on the truth for now, "Very well, Izzie," she said.

"Me too," Isabel replied before standing up and moving to her basin that Charlotte had just filled.

Isabel bathed herself and then Charlotte helped her into her corset and such, and then her dress. After Isabel was fully dressed for church, Isabel and Charlotte left the room and went to the private promenade deck where Mr. Mrs. Phillips was seated with Luke. Charlotte moved off to the side and noticed Luke staring at her and she also noticed a large and swollen bruise on the side of his head; she resisted the urge to smile.

"Luke, what happened?" Isabel began to fuss.

"Oh nothing darling," he said, smiling at his young fiancée, "I tripped and fell in the dark last night, hit my head right on my bed. Nothing I cannot handle!"

Isabel was laughing, "Oh my beloved, the accident prone!"

Everyone laughed as a steward served their breakfast and Mr. Phillips dived into a new topic about what they would do in Boston and how long the trip would be from New York to Boston. At random moments Charlotte would catch Luke giving her a look and she could not figure out if it was one of anger or confusion. She sincerely hoped she would not have to be alone with him again throughout the rest of the voyage.

Soon enough the family was leaving for the church services and Charlotte followed behind as Mr. Phillips had his arm linked with his wife and Luke had his arm linked with Isabel. They entered the dining room which had been cleaned up and chairs placed to give it the sense of a church sanctuary and they all sat near the front with Ismay and other first class passengers, while Charlotte sat with other maids off to the side of the room.

Charlotte hadn't been in this room yet and she found herself itching to look around some more but she was pulled from her thoughts as she heard a voice say they were to stand up. Everyone rose from their seats as the Captain entered the room followed by his officers, and Charlotte could not even help it when her heart jumped into her chest. In that brief moment she remembered the kiss they had shared the night before and wondered what it had meant. Thoughts of Luke's hands hurting her and Charles comforting arms chased each other throughout the entire service. She barely noticed anything when it happened and stood up when everyone else did, moving her words, but not singing, simply going through the motions. Later she knew she would feel remorseful for not paying attention to the service, but in that moment she could not bring herself to worry.

When the service ended, in the hustle and bustle of people moving and socializing, she felt a hand on her arm. Charlotte looked up to see Charles pulling her towards the room that the officers had entered from. Once they were out of sight of everyone he looked her over, as if he was expecting her to have been injured in the last few hours since they had parted.

"Has he said anything?"

Charlotte shrugged, "No, he just kept looking at me weird during breakfast. He has a great large bruise though from where I hit him with my father's bible, but he said it was where he tripped in the dark. He's a terrible liar but they all believe him."

Charles sighed, "During the entire service I kept looking at him and he had this stupid smile on his face. I really just wanted to walk over and punch him for being such a worthless excuse for a human being."

Charlotte beamed at him, "Well in the meantime I need to figure out what I am going to do," she sighed, "I can't stand being in his presence and-"

"Charles?"

They were cut off by a man calling for him.

"Sounds like Will," Charles offered and before either one of them had a chance to move or say something more on the matter, Will entered the room and looked at the two with raised eyebrows.

"Miss," he said, giving her a polite nod of the head.

Charlotte instantly curtsied, "Oh please, I am only a maid. You are much higher ranking than I," she said.

Will held up his hand and shook his head, "Nonsense, you must be Charlotte?"

Charlotte looked at Charles expectantly who simply shrugged. She shook her head at him and then looked back to Will, "Yes I am Charlotte, I suspect Charles has talked about me?"

Will smiled, "Only a little bit. I know he was concerned about you this morning and would not tell me what was wrong. I hope all is well with you but I do need to borrow the dashing second Officer because the Captain needs to speak to him."

"Oh, of course!" Charlotte laughed, "Do not let me keep you!"

Charles sighed because he wanted to talk to Charlotte more, "Can I still pick you up for supper tonight?" he asked in a quiet whisper.

Charlotte froze, she had forgotten about the meal entirely, but finally she nodded, "Yes still do. Any chance to not be alone will be fine with me."

Charles nodded, "See you tonight," he said. He wanted to give her a kiss on the cheek but knew he could not because Will was still watching.

Charlotte gave him a nod and waited as the officers left the room, giving it a minute or two before emerging herself. She was pleased to see Mr. and Mrs. Phillips still in discussion with Mr. Ismay who kept casting wary glanced to Luke who stood off to the side, disconnected from the conversation. Charlotte utilized her skills of being able to move seamlessly once more and stood behind Isabel.

"I just feel compelled to inform you that young Luke may have a bit of a drinking problem," Bruce was saying in a hushed voice, as if thinking Luke could not hear them, but Charlotte was quite sure he could, "Or at the very least, Mr. Crawford cannot handle his liquor."

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips gave each other looks.

"Well why would you say something like that?" Mrs. Phillips asked.

"At about two in the morning, this morning, he was knocking on my door rudely and loud enough to wake the whole hall. I believe he thought he was at Miss. Isabel's door," Bruce explained.

Isabel raised an eyebrow, "My door sir?"

Bruce gave a sort of awkward nod, like he was uncomfortable to be relaying this gossip, but Charlotte and Isabel could both tell he was relishing in being someone to spread gossip, worse than a middle aged woman who sat in the dining hall for two hours every lunch time drinking tea and spreading gossip around faster than the plague. "Well yes, I simply say that because he was asking for you."

"Well by George, Bruce old fellow, I apologize if our Luke had one too many! You know how young men can be!" Mr. Phillips said, laughing it off.

Bruce nodded, "Yes I understand, I just thought you should be aware."

Mr. Phillips was smiling but under the smile Charlotte could pick up on an annoyance, though whether it was aimed at Bruce or Luke, she did not know. But finally at long last, the family departed from the dining room which stewards were already changing and preparing it for lunch. But the Phillips family did not dine with the other passengers on that Sunday but instead they dined on the promenade deck again.

Charlotte followed Isabel into her room to help the girl changed for lunch and Isabel instantly went into a rant, "Oh that Mr. Ismay is a gross fellow. Despite whether what he said was true or not, it was completely rude to say it out in the public like that for people to hear! I will not be surprised if by the time we make it to Boston, it isn't in the local paper," she was scowling but continued on, and in that moment Charlotte wanted to tell Isabel what Luke had done to her, but she could not bring herself. It pained her to admit it, but this was not just about her reputation, Isabel cared what was said about Luke because she actually loved Luke.

They were exiting Isabel's room just in time to hear Mr. Phillips on the promenade deck, "If I hear of or smell another one of your escapades with the liquor one more time before this trip I over, I'll have your hide. It will be one thing what you do in the privacy of your own home in America but what you do while under my responsibility is a matter of mine because I'll be damned if you ruin my Isabel's reputation before she even reaches American shores."

There was a tense silence and the two girls looked at each other, wondering when someone would speak and then finally, "Yes sir." Luke's voice reached them in a cool tone and he clearly did not like being spoken to like that, but he went along with it.

"Good, now sit down and let's prepare to eat," Mr. Phillips said.

At that remark, Mrs. Phillips emerged from her room, completely changed into a new dress. Charlotte had no idea how the woman managed it without the help of a maid, but each time Mrs. Phillips changed, she had a flawless and clean look about her.

"Ah Isabel, you look lovely," Mrs. Phillips said, she smiled at Charlotte, "Your work is always evident and it simply shines."

Charlotte curtsied, "Thank you Mrs. Phillips," she said.

Mrs. Phillips led Isabel by the hand to the deck and the women sat down at the table. Charlotte had not been instructed what to do so she simply waited in the sitting room. Most of the meal seemed to go on in silence and when it ended, Luke was the first one to emerge from the room. He spotted Charlotte sitting at the chair near the light where she liked to curl up, "Here now girl," he hissed.

Charlotte was alarmed by the harsh tone in his voice but she did as she was told and followed him as he led her out into the hallway. They walked down the hall and turned a corner before he turned on her, "Have you said a word about what happened last night?"

She considered him for a moment and then shook her head, "No, not yet."

"Yet?" his eyes glinted with anger at the mere implication that she would mention the matter to his future wife or in laws.

"When have I had the time to say a word about it?" Charlotte asked.

"Look, I am sorry but you should not be so offended! I did not seek you out, I merely thought you were Isabel!" he answered, as if it was no big deal.

Charlotte scoffed, "Oh so it's okay that you nearly raped me because you merely meant to get Isabel instead?" She had figured this would be his excuse but she still could not quite believe her ears, "Isabel loves you and I love Isabel. I have watched that child and I still remember the day she was born. My mother was beaming away and singing about the joys of new babies. I have been her maid since I was sixteen and I vowed to always care for that child. So you think I am just going to be okay and forgive you when what you really wanted to do was force yourself on her? A real man waits and a real man would have respected his fiancée's wishes to wait."

There was a tense moment of silence and then Luke's hand made a loud cracking noise as it made contact with Charlotte's cheek. He stood there for a moment and Charlotte tenderly reached up to touch the sore skin and at the feeling, tears welled in her eyes.

"Are you quite done, Mr. Crawford?" she asked, quietly.

"Yes and if you ever question my caliber again, I will mean it when I stumble into your room in the dark," Luke answered in a quiet whisper.

Charlotte stared at him and promptly turned on her heels and returned to the room, her hand on her cheek so as to hide the mark from Isabel and her parents. Isabel was not in the sitting room so Charlotte went straight to her own room, locking the door behind her. After she was sure Luke had not followed her, Charlotte moved to the mirror and examined her now red cheek. It would be bruised by morning, she was sure of it. Carefully she dipped a cloth into the basin of now cold water and she placed the cloth on to her cheek. The sensation stung initially but after a moment it felt better.

For the first time in her life, Charlotte wanted out of the situation she had found herself in. She knew that once they were in Boston, even Isabel could not protect her old friend and there was no way she could ask Isabel to do such a thing. In the same instance however, Charlotte feared for Isabel in this future life with Luke and his violent, drunken tendencies. She glanced at her dress hanging up on the door of the wardrobe, still waiting to be worn for the supper that night and Charlotte wondered if Charles could love her enough to take her away. She had started to develop feelings for him, serious feelings no doubt, and the kiss they had shared the night before had made her skin tingle and her stomach flutter, but she did not know how Charles felt about her. But when she thought about her future and pictured herself married to him in a little home somewhere near the English Channel, Charlotte could see it working. Never mind she could see it working, she could see it being a happy and loving marriage. However, despite how desperate she was, she would never use Charles to get out of her current life because she respected and cared for him too much to do that to him.

A look at the clock by her bed and Charlotte saw it was only one-thirty, a whole six hours before Charles would be there for her. She glanced at the door and knew she would be needed, but Charlotte just could not be bothered. Carefully she moved to lie down on her bed, being sure to not brush her cheek against any of the fabric. Within in a few brief moments sleep had taken over and she was dead to the world.

XXX

**A/N-Reviews maybe? Cause that would be amaazing! :)**


	8. Commitment

Chapter 8

Commitment

"So, what's the story with her?"

Charles looked up from where he was making a note in the ships log, a report of ice from the Caronia had come in and the Captain had asked him to post it in the chart room, "What's the story with who?" he asked, though he had a feeling.

Will rolled his eyes, "The girl I found you with earlier! I'm not going to tease you but I would like to know."

Charles set the notebook and pencil down and moved to put the warning that Harold Bride had delivered up on a shelf so everyone would see it, "Well I have feelings for her," he said finally, deciding straight and to the point would be the best with one of his oldest friends.

Will gave him a small smile, "Well that much was obvious, Charles. You aren't exactly a hard person to read."

Charles gave a wave of the hand as if to brush off his words, "I care about her quite a fair bit, actually. I might even," but he stopped himself from even daring to utter the word, 'love.' He knew deep down what his heart wanted but Charlotte had acted so bizarre. The night before she had kissed him and then today she simply gave him a peck on the cheek. She would seem to throw herself into things and then, almost as if a second thought, Charlotte withdrew herself. "Last night," he started, deciding that he would trust Will with the information about what had happened to her, "Her employer's fiancée entered her room and thinking she was Isabel because of how drunk he was, and attempted to rape her."

"Good God," Will exclaimed, horror crossing his face.

"She managed to get away and I found her last night, sitting on the deck just staring off into space and it scared me. Charlotte has a very vivacious nature and every time I see her, she is smiling. What's more is she loves that girl she serves, absolutely adores her, as if Miss. Phillips was her own younger sister. When she told me what happened last night I felt this rush of anger grip me and the only reason why I did not act on the first thing that came to my mind, was because she was sitting there and she needed me," Charles sighed, "But given half the chance I would knock that Mr. Crawford off of his high American steed and show him how a man is to treat a woman."

Will listened to his friends words, "And what did you do after you found her?"

Charles looked at Will and waved his hand again, "She was too scared to return to her room and I would not have allowed it either way, so I let her sleep in my bed and I slept on the floor last night."

"A true gentleman," Will said.

Charles had a halfhearted smile, "We're having dinner tonight to celebrate her birthday. I wanted to make it a day with a good memory for her because she only associates her parent's death with the fifteenth."

"God, it sounds like she was handed the short end of the stick," Will replied.

"It would certainly seem that way," Charles muttered.

"Well good thing she has you then, maybe the Lord was just waiting to bring someone into her life who wouldn't take sadness and misery for an answer," Will had a laughing tone in his voice but Charles knew he was being sincere.

"It may sound insane, but I could see her being my wife, and I'd like to think I could make her very happy," Charles looked at Will again.

"Any girl would be lucky to have you, Charles," Will said, smiling warmly.

Xx

When Charlotte finally awoke, it had darkened in her room and after a moment of listening for sounds from the sitting room, she determined that she was alone. Charlotte carefully swung her legs over her bed and checked the clock, it was now six-thirty and everyone was surely gone by now for supper. She scolded herself for not being awake and wondered how Isabel had managed. Once she emerged from her room and saw that everyone was indeed gone she thought of her dress and the meal she was going to.

Charlotte promptly returned to her room and turned the light on, first moving to check her reflection in the mirror. There was indeed now a bruise where Luke's hand had struck her and she sighed in dismay, wondering how on Earth she could go to this meal looking the way she did. Charlotte stared at her dress for a moment and then quickly went to Isabel's room and found the girl's collection of makeup. She perused the selection for a moment and then began to gently apply powder over the mark until there was only a faint trace of it; if Charlotte attempted to apply anymore she feared she would look like a porcelain doll, so she refrained. The next thing she did was return to her room where she changed into the gown she had made. The fabric was soft and cool on her skin and to this day she still loved the feel of a new dress, and the love of such a small thing was likely the result of being someone who rarely had new things in the first place.

The dress fit her in all of the right places and Charlotte actually felt beautiful when she examined her appearance in the mirror. She had always been told by the other household staff and even Isabel that Charlotte had a very pretty face and she had always felt pretty, but beauty in her opinion was a whole other thing. She carefully patted down the dress and straightened out the fabric and once Charlotte was quite pleased with the way the dress was hanging on her, she went to attend to her hair. It had become quite a mess while she was sleeping and now it was the only thing about her appearance that was bothering her. Finally, at seven twenty-five, Charlotte was totally ready and just in time too. Just as she was getting Charles' jacket from her wardrobe, there was a knock at the door.

She glanced once more at her appearance in the mirror and then left her bedroom, locking the door behind her and keeping the key in her own jacket's pocket. Charlotte moved quietly but swiftly and opened the door to find Charles on the other side. He opened his mouth to say something but he had stopped at the sight of the woman before him. It was almost as if this wasn't the same Charlotte, because she wasn't hidden behind her uniform, apron, and cap.

"You look stunning," he said in a quick breath.

Charlotte blushed profusely, "Thank you Charles," she replied, looking down.

He finally seemed able to regain control of his thought process so he offered her arm, "Shall we?"

Charlotte linked her arm with his and exited the room, carefully closing the door behind her, and they headed up the hall together.

"So, what is on the menu tonight?" Charlotte asked smiling.

He shrugged, "Surprise."

She made a face, "Spoil sport."

Charles hid his smile through a thinly veiled cough.

"Was anything said by Luke after church to you?" he asked next.

Charlotte considered how best to answer, "Well yes, actually."

"What did he say?"

"Well after we returned to the suite, while I helped Isabel change I guess Mr. Phillips decided to talk to Luke about this drunken stupor that Mr. Ismay witnessed," She started, "And Mr. Phillips was not pleased. He has very little tolerance for alcohol and usually only drinks it socially, because as I have heard him say before, 'It makes an otherwise intelligent and well respected man a moronic babbling buffoon,' his words exactly by the way," she said.

"Mr. Phillips is a wise man," Charles said, smiling.

"So after lunch Luke saw me and told me to come with him, so I did. We went down the hall and he told me that I should not be so upset about what happened because he merely intended to find Isabel," Charlotte was hesitant as she spoke and Charles could tell. They were on the deck now and walking towards the Officers dining room, "I told him that he was a fool for thinking I could forgive him for trying to find Isabel to rape because of how much I care for Isabel," she looked up at Charles, "I have seen that child grow up and the idea of a man harming her the way he nearly did to me last night," Charlotte shuddered, "It makes me sick."

Charles wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, "Charlotte, I promise you that Luke will never lay a hand on you again, alright?"

She nodded and pressed into him, comforted at the warmth of his arms, "Thank you," she murmured.

Charles smiled at her and then opened the door to the dining room, and Charlotte could not quite believe it. Inside the room was lit, not by electricity but by candles and there was a steward waiting on standby for them.

She entered the room looking around at the table that had been set with the fine White Star Line china from the first class dining room and her mouth watered at the sight of the silver platters that were covered up to retain heat.

"Good evening miss," the steward greeted politely. Charlotte recognized him from her own dining experiences on the ship; he was one of the stewards who made it his job to make everyone laugh at meal times. He winked at her as he pulled out a chair for her to sit, which she did, still staring around the room in wonder.

Charles sat across from her and was grinning; his heart was soaring at the sight of her smile. "Do you like it?" he asked.

Charlotte's eyes fell back on him and she thought she was going to cry, "Oh Charles, it is gorgeous...and," she put her hands over her face and when she removed her hands, there were indeed tears in her eyes, "And certainly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

Charles reached across the table and took her hand into his, "I want your birthdays to be nothing but beautiful memories. Starting with this one, even if we are a day early," he laughed and then nodded at the steward who came and poured ice water into their glasses. "I contemplated stealing a bottle of champagne and Lowe even offered to do it himself when he found out about this little meal, but I decided you had probably had enough with alcohol for one twenty-four hour time span."

Charlotte laughed, "You made the right decision."

"So I told my fellow officers to eat early because I would be occupying this room for about an hour and then Pittman and Boxhall helped me find the candles down in storage. They are merely for backup purposes in case there was ever a fault in the breakers and then I rounded up the stewards and Alan here decided to help out. His friend said he has quite a cynic nature, but he told the girl to quiet because he was a romantic at heart," Charles laughed and when Charlotte looked over to Alan, he simply smiled.

"So, now that we are here and I do have to be back at work soon, we should start with our appetizer," he said.

Charlotte grinned, "Alright!"

She looked at Alan again who brought over two cooled plates which had a beautiful green salad with ripe tomatoes on top. The lettuce was crisp and it snapped in her mouth, Charlotte was quite convinced she had never eaten a better salad.

When dessert was served, (after which, Alan disappeared, Charlotte noted) Charlotte was quite sure she would not be able to eat a bite of that was when Charles moved the conversation in a more serious direction.

"Charlotte when the ship docks," he started, "I am quite terrified that I will lose you and to be honest, I am not too sure I am prepared to let you go."

Charlotte had a dessert fork in her hand and had just cut off a piece of the cake, "I don't think I can let you go either," she told him, setting the fork down.

"I am prepared to drop everything and follow you to Boston if I must so I can court you properly."

She stared at him, "Charles, I cannot possibly ask you to leave your life just to follow me where I will be a maid."

There was silence and then Charlotte said, "I am going to ask Isabel if I can leave. I know I should not leave her with that monster but things will only be worse for me if I stay. If she agrees, which I honestly believe she will if I tell her I want to be with you, then I could sail to England with you," she smiled at the thought, "I may never even have to step forth in the city of Boston."

Charles was grinning, "You are not missing much in Boston anyway."

Charlotte laughed, "I know."

There was silence again and then, "Would you really be willing to leave the Phillips family to come with me?"

Charlotte nodded, "When I look into my future, trying to imagine what it will be like, I see only misery in the Crawford home but when I imagine a life with you, I see a happy and loving home."

He stood from his seat and moved to where she was sitting, bent down her took her hands and looked up at her, "This is probably absolutely madness but I want you to know that I vow in this moment to keep you safe and protect you. I want to care for you for the rest of my life and that is the only life I can see."

Charlotte's heart was hammering, "I vow that I will forever stand by your side," she said, smiling.

Charles stood up and pulled her up from her seat and brought her close to him and then pressed his lips to hers. Charlotte's arms wrapped around his waist and she pressed herself into his body, kissing back passionately. When they broke apart she was grinning, "If I didn't know better I would have thought we were just married."

Charles laughed, "It certainly sounded that way for a moment there, didn't it?"

She grinned and pressed her face into his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating against his chest, and for the first time since her father had died, Charlotte felt a complete and total sense of security.

**XX**

**A/N- Okay guys, all together now, "AWWWWW." So there's that. **

**I wrote this on a slowly dying computer last night during the big storm that hit Virginia. I was writing feverishly and I managed to get this done before my laptop died. As of today we still have no power but me being the genius I am, dragged my mom to Walmart to buy an inverter for the car…we charged our laptops up (initially I merely wanted this so I could watch a movie or write chapter 9) and then I thought "What if we ran an extension cord from our house to the car so we could get on the internet?" **

**Suffice to say, it worked…so here is the chapter. You should review purely because of my intense dedication to finding a way of getting this chapter to you. **

**Hope if any of my readers are on the east coast that you stayed safe and dry! Lots of love, me. **


	9. I Believe We Have Struck Something

Chapter 9

I Believe We Have Struck Something

Charles escorted Charlotte back to her stateroom, his arm wrapped lovingly around her.

"So I suppose I will barely see you tomorrow since you said you're going to be so busy with preparations for the final stretch?" Charlotte asked as they walked down the halls.

It was quiet and Charlotte presumed people were still in the dining or smoking rooms; enjoying the music, food, cigars, and brandy. She hoped that Luke would still be in the smoking room at the very least when she returned so she could go straight into her room and not emerge until morning.

"Unfortunately yes, but I think we should be able to see each other for supper or something of the sort in the evening," he smiled at her.

Charlotte gently placed her head on his arm as they walked, her full belly was making her sleepy and she would have liked nothing more than to fall asleep in his arms right there. "That sounds like it would be lovely," she said in a soft voice.

"Then we will plan on it," he replied just as they approached the door to her stateroom.

Charlotte detached herself from Charles and looked at the door, "Well I will see you tomorrow," she told him.

"Tomorrow," Charles agreed.

Charlotte reached up and gave him a peck on the lips and then turned and disappeared into the room.

She closed the door behind her and looked around the room, as she suspected, everyone was still gone and so she had the room to herself. Charlotte stood there for a moment and turned so her skirt twirled around her legs. The feeling of floating on cloud nine was almost overwhelming. Her heart was swollen with happiness and she hoped she would never step off of it.

Charlotte returned to her room and after a moment, she decided she just did not want to change out of her clothes yet. A quick look at the clock told her it was nearing nine-thirty, she and Charles had talked much longer than they intended and they hadn't exactly rushed back to her stateroom. Briefly a worried thought crossed her mind that he may get in trouble for being late to his shift, even if it was only for a couple of hours. Charlotte moved back into the sitting room after retrieving a book and she settled herself into the arm chair and opened the book. An hour or so passed when Isabel and her parents both entered the room, their cheeks were flushed which suggested to Isabel that they had been up on the deck walking.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips," Charlotte greeted, instantly standing to her feet and giving them a curtsey.

"Oh Charlotte, your dress is lovely!" Isabel said before her parents could respond.

Charlotte looked from Isabel to her skirts and gave a small shrug, "Thank you, Isabel."

Isabel took Charlotte by the hand then and led her to her room. She closed the door behind her and sat down on the edge of the bed, "So where were you that you were all dressed up?" Isabel asked.

Charlotte's gaze was still fixed on the door and finally she tore her gaze to Isabel, "Charles and I were having supper."

Isabel beamed, "How was it?"

Charlotte smiled and sat down beside Isabel, "We want to be together."

Isabel stared at Charlotte for a moment and then she threw her arms around her, "Oh Charlotte that is just so lovely!"

The girls spent the next hour discussing the evening, with Isabel pressing Charlotte for every last detail. It briefly crossed Charlotte's mind to bring up Luke's actions from the previous night, but again Charlotte delayed it. They didn't even notice the time until Isabel noticed it was eleven-thirty, "Oh dear, we've been talking and going on but it is so late now." Isabel sighed and looked around the room, "While I change, would you mind fetching some tea or something of the sort for me?"

Charlotte stood to her feet, "I could do that, but how will you get out of your corset?"

Isabel bit her lip and then had a devilish grin, "I'm not wearing one."

Charlotte frowned, looked at Isabel's figure closely and then her eyes went wide, "Oh Isabel, you silly child."

Isabel giggled, "Run along now! I'll be waiting!"

Charlotte shook her head and Isabel distinctly remembered hearing something like, "Her parents would kill her if they knew," as she went along.

The hallways seemed slightly livelier but they had an air of mystery to them now as Charlotte walked. You never knew what went on behind closed doors and Charlotte was one maid on wanted to be sure she never stuck her nose into other people's business, but sometimes a person just couldn't help their curious nature.

Charlotte moved on until she found the entrance to the kitchens and knocked before entering the room. There were stewards bustling around and a few cooks who looked up and they were clearly surprised to see such a well-dressed woman in the kitchen.

"Pardon me, Miss," one of the men said before bowing low to the ground.

Charlotte screwed up her face out of confusion and then realized that she was still wearing her fancy dress, "Oh please do not bother, I am only a maid on a quest for tea for my mistress."

A cook exchanged a look with another cook but they finally decided to take Charlotte's words at face value, "Alright."

Together they prepared a tray with a small tea pot filled with hot water, the green leaves swirling around at the bottom of the kettle, a clean cup, and a spoon. They set two sugar lumps on a napkin as Charlotte requested and then everything was set on a silver tray. Charlotte was just picking the tray up when she felt a terrible tremor under her feet. The tea pot rattled on the tray as she stood there. Just as soon as it started however, it was over, and then there was sheer confusion.

"What the 'ell was that?" a man shouted, running to one of the small port windows and glancing out of it, but he couldn't see anything.

Charlotte was frowning, "Ships don't typically act that way, do they?"

Another stewardess shook her head, "I do not believe so, no."

She stood there for a moment longer, watching as people rushed around, trying to find out what happened. Another few minutes passed and Charlotte simply shook her head and headed to the stateroom. The walk back took longer than expected because of people who had left their rooms now because of the shuddering.

"Why have the engines stopped?" a woman asked a man who was walking by.

Charlotte stepped to the side to allow a man in a dark coat and rolls of paper under his arm to pass by as she listened.

"We've likely thrown a propeller blade, that's the shudder you felt," the man answered.

A propeller blade had been thrown? Charlotte mulled these things over in her mind and supposed they seemed probable but she knew very little about ships, it was a question to ask Charles when she saw him the next day. A short journey on and Charlotte entered the stateroom. Mr. Phillips looked up as the door opened, "Did you see or hear anything about what that shudder was?" he asked.

Charlotte briefly wondered if it had awoken him, because he was standing there in his robe. She shook her head as an answer, "No, I did not. Someone said it was the propeller maybe, but that is all I heard."

Mr. Phillips seemed to be mulling these things over, "I will see what I can find out, but go ahead and take Miss. Isabel her tea."

Charlotte nodded and crossed the small space to the bedroom. Isabel was sitting up in her bed, running a brush through her hair.

"Did you feel that shudder?" Isabel asked when Charlotte entered.

Charlotte moved to the small table that was beside the bed, carefully set the tray down, and began to pour the steaming hot tea into a cup. "I did, Isabel. A man in the hallway said it was likely a thrown propeller blade or something."

Isabel watched Charlotte prepare the tea and carefully took the cup when it was handed to her. She took a sip, thinking about Charlotte's words as the tea swirled around in her mouth. She drank the beverage down and then set the cup down next to her lamp, "It was quite a shake for a propeller," Isabel shrugged, "But what do I know?"

Charlotte was about to comment when they heard a sharp knock on the door in the sitting room. The two girls looked at each other and listened as a man entered the door, "Everyone is to come up to the deck wearing their life belts. I suggest you wear warm coats, hats and gloves, it is quite cold outside."

"Sir, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Phillips boomed.

"Lifeboat drill, the Captain's orders are that every man, woman, and child are to be on the deck. Do not waste time!" the man said.

Charlotte listened as the door slammed shut and then glanced at Isabel. "Well, I suppose we should get you dressed and ready."

Just at her words the door opened and Mr. Phillips entered the room and looked at the girls, "Charlotte, help Miss. Phillips dress and have her in warm clothes. Then get your jacket and gloves, we are to be upstairs shortly."

Charlotte curtsied, "Yes sir."

Mr. Phillips exited the room and then Charlotte moved to the wardrobe. She pulled one of Isabel's warmer dresses out, a coat, gloves, and the lifebelt that was in the top compartment of the wardrobe. Isabel dressed quickly and after a few minutes of bothering with the life belt, she was ready.

"Run and fetch your coat now, Charlotte. Dress in warm clothes and then we'll all leave together," Isabel said.

Charlotte nodded and left the room, glancing briefly at Mr. and Mrs. Phillips who were talking to Luke about what had happened and what they must now do. She kept walking, closing her door quietly behind her. Thoughts began to race through her head and Charlotte was struck as she remembered Charles' words after lunch, "_I just loathe this unsinkable nonsense. In fact, all of the officers hate it because it's just not true. I do not honestly believe there is something God can't do if he puts his mind to it." _

But the ship couldn't be sinking, not over a propeller blade. Of course, she supposed, it could have been something more. Besides, it was just a lifeboat drill…the steward had said so. Charlotte bit her lip and wondered what could have possibly done it. She moved to her wardrobe and pulled her lifebelt down and began to put it on, thinking more over the conversations she'd had with Charles over the last few days. He had mentioned ice just a few hours before, they were going to have to start navigating carefully through the ice fields, and they were nightmares at this time of the year. Charlotte figured she could ask Charles when they reached the deck, if there was an ordered lifeboat drill, he would surely be up there.

Once she was sure her belt was tightened and on properly, Charlotte pulled her coat on and then her black gloves. It was stifling in this room but she knew that once she reached the deck it would be cold. She was just about to leave the room when a thought struck her. Charlotte turned and looked at the wardrobe again and quickly crossed the space, bending down she pulled her suitcase out and opened it. She found the hidden pocket and pulled her mother's wedding ring out, Charlotte stared at it for a moment then removed her glove and placed the ring on her finger. She replaced the glove on her hand, comforted to know her mother's ring was with her. She was probably reading too far into things, but just in case there was something wrong, Charlotte wanted to be sure that she did not lose one of the few things she had left of her mothers.

Charlotte stood to her full height, put the suitcase back, and exited the room, closing the door behind her. Everyone was now assembled in the sitting room and they all looked at Charlotte expectantly.

"You took your time," Luke commented, rolling his eyes.

Isabel frowned, "Come along Charlotte."

Charlotte waited for the family to enter the hallway and then she followed. The halls which had filled a little when she had been returning from the kitchens were now flooding with families. People hadn't even bothered in changing out of their pyjamas and nightgowns. Small children were wiping sleep out of their eyes, clutching stuff teddy's, one little boy even had a polar bear to his chest. Mr. Phillips led the family up through the grand staircase and to a door that led to the deck.

xx

Charles awoke with a start, it hadn't been long at all since he had returned to his room, and a look at his watch told him it was eleven-forty. It had only been forty minutes or so since he had fallen asleep. Charles listened for a moment and then swung his legs over the side of the bed and ran out of the room. His feet were stung at the bitter cold as he looked up and down the deck. Charles stood there for a moment, trying to decide what the best course of action was to take. Finally he came to the conclusion that it wasn't his business and if he was needed, they would fetch him.

Slowly, Charles returned to his room and crawled back under the bed, his feet warming up under the covers. Now that he was awake, he was having a hard time falling back asleep, so he stayed there, counting the ticks of his clock.

Ten minutes, twenty, and then finally thirty minutes later, his door swung open. Joseph Boxhall stood there, "You know, we have struck something!"

Charles frowned and got out of the bed again, reaching from his trousers from where he had draped them across the back of his chair, and he began to dress, not bothering to take off his pyjamas; they didn't have time.

"I know we have struck something," Charles replied, sitting down to put on his socks and shoes.

Joseph stood there, waiting for Charles, tapping his foot impatiently, "The water is up to F in the mail room," he said, as if trying to urge Charles along.

Charles gave him a look and said, "Run along, I'll report to the bridge in just a moment."

Boxhall nodded, "Hurry."

Charles watched him run off, leaving the door open. He shook his head and closed it behind Joseph, not completely but enough to give him some form of privacy. They had struck something? He scowled, wondering what that could even possibly mean. What had they struck? Charles thought back to the conversation he'd had with the Captain earlier that evening.

"_You know, I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm." _

_The Captain laughed, "Like a mill pond." _

_Charles was quiet and then said, "You know, it will make the bergs harder to see, with no breaking water at the base." _

_There was a tense silence and Charles wondered if he should not have spoken. _

"_Well, I'm off. Maintain the speed and heading, Mr. Lightoller." _

_Charles watched the Captain disappear, "Yes sir." _

Was it possible now, Charles wondered, that they'd hit an iceberg? He decided it was completely possible and he didn't like the idea of it. He stood there a moment longer and then finally followed after Joseph, closing the door behind him.

XX

It was madness outside, everywhere Charlotte looked she saw officers and crewmembers uncovering lifeboats and swinging them out over the water. Her stomach lurched at the thought of the water below, if someone lost their footing and fell, the water would sting. The noise was also unbearable and Charlotte found herself putting her hands over her ears.

"This is madness!" Mr. Phillips shouted, but no one heard him.

Charlotte looked to Mrs. Phillips who nodded towards the doorway, seeming to indicate they should step back inside until it was time to be loaded into the boats. No one else seemed to understand her so Charlotte opened the door and waved a hand, pointing them to return inside. The family retreated into the warmth and brightly lit hallway and stood by the windows, glancing out at the hard working crew.

"Why order us up onto the deck and then not even be ready to load the boats, I will never know!" Mr. Phillips said, shaking his head.

Charlotte wasn't listening as the family discussed the possibilities of what could be happening. She was scanning the officers to see if Lightoller was amongst them. However the only man she recognized was the one who had come to find Charles that morning after church. Will, she thought his name was, though at this point Charlotte couldn't quite know. It was late and she was tired and Charlotte never trusted her judgement when she should be sleeping.

"It is twenty after midnight and the entire ship is awake, this simply won't do!" Mr. Phillips was complaining, "I am going to be complaining to the White Star Line about all of this."

"Oh dear, stop exasperating yourself," Mrs. Phillips said, giving him a stern look.

He waved a hand as if to brush off her words.

"We could find out from Officer Lightoller if he knows what is going on."

Everyone turned to look at Charlotte.

"Run and find him," Isabel said, "Be back here in a few minutes."

Charlotte stood still for a moment, waiting for the okay from Mr. Phillips. He seemed to be considering it for a moment and then nodded, "Run, find him, ask what is going on, and return here."

"Yes sir," Charlotte said, she curtsied and ran outside.

It wasn't as noisy now and the officers were talking to some of the passengers who had stayed outside waiting to be told what to do. She headed up the deck, looking for Charles but he was nowhere to be found. Finally, she walked around to the portside and spotted him. Charles was talking to the Captain and another officer. She ran up the deck and stopped at a distance, waiting for him to finish. A moment later, Charles turned away from the Captain and said something to the other officer, and then his eyes fell on Charlotte. He nodded at Wilde and approached her, "Charlotte, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I was sent to find out what was going on. The Phillips are all inside wondering why we were dragged out of bed at this awful hour, just to be told to stand around and look like fools," she answered.

Charles swore and sighed, "Charlotte what I am to tell you, must not go beyond the Phillips family. Not yet at least."

Her brows knitted together, "Charles what is going on?"

He sighed, "We've hit a berg and the ship is going down by the head, within two hours or less."

Charlotte stared at him in awe struck horror. "So it's not just a lifeboat drill," she said slowly, finally tearing her gaze from his face and looking around her surroundings, the men working to uncover the boats.

"It's going to be women and children first and once they are safe, we'll evacuate the men," Charles explained.

She couldn't seem to say anything.

"Charlotte?"

Charlotte turned and stared at him, "But there aren't enough lifeboats, you said so yourself."

He sighed, "I'm aware, which is why I need you to make sure you get on a boat with Isabel and her parents."

She frowned, "And you? What will happen to you?"

Charles looked down and took her hands into his, "I will leave only when all hope is lost."

Charlotte let his words sink in before she threw her arms around him, "I have to go, but I will be back," she whispered.

They pulled apart and Charles nodded, "I have to get back to my job and get these passengers onto the boats. Promise me you'll get off this ship and get to safety."

Charlotte nodded, "Of course I will."

They stared at each other for a moment and then he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close, and for that one moment they forgot about everything that was going on around them. The sounds of the ship, officers shouting orders, and the crew running up and down the deck were lost to them. Finally, Charles pulled himself away from her, "I will see you in the morning."

She nodded again; it seemed to be all Charlotte could manage. Charles pressed a kiss to her gloved hand and then watched him walk off and return to his station, beckoning the passengers towards him.

After a moment, Charlotte managed to bring herself to move, and she headed back to the Phillips family.

XX

**A/N: Ah, a nice long chapter to counteract the short ones. I hope you've enjoyed and that you'll review…I'm going to return to watching Star Wars now…Bye! **


	10. Turning Tables

Chapter 10

Turning Tables

Charlotte found the trip back to her family to be more difficult because now that the Captain had given the officers their orders, more people had trickled outside to be loaded into the lifeboats. On the starboard side, she noticed the officer from that morning loading some men into a boat with the women, and part of the crowd was Isabel and her parents. She quickly joined them, "I apologize for the delay," Charlotte said when they took notice of her; "The decks are filling up more so it was harder to navigate through the crowd."

"Well, what did you find out?" Mr. Phillips asked.

Charlotte glanced around and once she was sure none of the other passengers would overhear them, she leaned in close to him and answered in a quiet whisper, "The ship has struck an iceberg and is sinking."

The family was totally silent and Charlotte was sure it was from pure shock but before anyone could comment they heard, "Come along ma'am."

An officer had taken Mrs. Phillips arm and was carefully helping her over into the boat. When she was settled in, the same officer, who was the younger of the two, helped Isabel into the boat and then Mr. Phillips.

"Alright, no more for this boat, we can't afford the weight," Will said.

His words tore Charlotte from her thoughts, "Pardon?" she asked, looking at him.

"Sorry miss, but we aren't sure what these boats can withstand and we believe we are at weight capacity as it is. You'll have to wait for the next boat," he explained.

Isabel made a noise of irritation, "Surely my maid and my fiancée aren't going to buckle the boat!" she stomped a foot down on the hard wood, "It seems sturdy enough."

"It's not a chance we can afford to take, they'll have to wait," Will said.

Charlotte felt her stomach lurched, "Miss. Isabel, I will catch the next one. Do not worry about me."

But Charlotte could tell from the look on Isabel's face, that the news from Charles had scared her, "Charlotte," she said, almost pleading.

Charlotte shook her head, "I'll be along after you, don't worry your little head."

"LOWER AWAY!"

The women jumped out of shock at Murdoch's booming voice; Charlotte didn't think a volume like that could come from such a soft spoken man.

The boat began to move, being lowered down on some sort of pulley system. Charlotte couldn't bear to watch the Phillips get farther away from her, so she simply watched the ropes that the boat was attached to. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ropes ceased moving, and down in the water below.

After a moment Charlotte looked up to see Luke had disappeared, perhaps going off in search of a boat that was about to be lowered away. "Good riddance," she muttered to herself. The last thing she wanted right now was to be stuck in a lifeboat all night long with him, of all people.

"Excuse me miss," the younger officer said, pushing past her.

She moved out of the way, watching him head towards the port side and another officer took his place. Charlotte wondered if he was going to help Charles, but she only pondered these things for a moment before deciding she needed to make a plan. Charlotte watched as the officers filled the next boat, it had a five on the side, and it was filling up. She bit her lip and decided that if she was going to try and save some of her few belongings, it was better to do it now, rather than wait.

"Miss?" Will turned to look at her, holding out his hand to help her into the boat.

"Give my seat to someone else; I'll get the next one."

He gave her a look, "Please sir, do not waste time over me. I will get in a boat."

Will gave a nod after another seconds pause, and then helped another waiting passenger into the boat. Charlotte watched him for a moment and then turned, heading towards the door.

Xx

"Lights, take this, you may need it!"

Charles had been hooking a boat up to the falls to be lowered next when Wilde had spoken. He turned to face him and saw his senior officer handing him a gun. There was a moment of silence and then finally Charles took it, pocketing it, and then he went on with his work, praying he would not have a reason to use the gun.

They had already loaded one boat off on the port side, and now at ten after, they were about to load a second boat. Lowe had come over to join them after successfully loading two boats on the starboard side and so now with an extra hand, Charles was crossing the space to where the emergency staircase was, about every ten minutes or so, to gauge how high the water had risen yet, if at all. Thankfully he didn't see anything yet, but knew that before long, it would be spilling over the decks, bringing this ship down with it.

Within ten minutes they had lowered another boat and they were about to launch fourteen.

"Moody and Lowe!"

The younger officers turned to look at Wilde, "One of you two man boat fourteen, I don't care which but this boat needs an officer."

Harold and Jim looked at each other, "Ah you go ahead Lowe, I'll catch the next one," Jim said, trying to smile despite the situation.

Harold frowned, "Are you sure? It isn't that big of a deal for me...I can wait."

Jim shook his head, "Positive, you get this one."

Harold was silent and then shook Jim's hand, "Good luck."

Jim nodded.

Harold then turned promptly and climbed into the boat, taking people's hands as Lightoller passed them off to him, helping the women to get situated in their seats, and making sure the weight was balanced.

"We need a few more women and children!" Charles shouted into the crowd.

He was reaching for a woman when a man pushed through the crowd, it was Luke, and Charles thought he might hit him right there.

"Hello Charles old fellow," Luke said, smoothing his hair back. Charles couldn't help but notice that the young man smelled strongly of alcohol. "No one is letting me into a boat and I figured we're old pals from lunch...surely you could help a friend in need."

Charles felt his neck flush with anger, "Where is your honor sir?" He shoved Luke out of the way, "Women and children first." With that, he reached for a young girl and helped her climb into the boat.

Luke stared after Charles, anger coursing through his veins, but he said nothing and stalked off, like a cat that had just been kicked.

Charles continued to put more women into the boat, but for the rest of the evening he kept an eye out for Luke, being sure that he wasn't trying to weasel his way into a boat. Charles was going to be damned if he let that man, of all men, take a seat from a woman.

Xx

"Please sir-excuse me-sorry ma'am-" Charlotte spoke as she went through the halls which were filled with people, some dressed in their best, clearly oblivious to the situation at hand, champagne glasses balanced between two fingers. They were all over the grand staircase, complaining about the heat and slowly making their ways to the decks. At long last, she reached the hallway that led to her stateroom, which was strangely deserted. Some doors looked like they were locked up tighter than a bank; some had been left wide open. Finally she found their room and turned the knob, the door swinging open with ease, Charlotte entered and closed the door behind her.

It was dark in the room where they had left the lights off and Charlotte carefully felt her way around the room until her hand fell on a light. The lamp gave off a soft glow, giving the room a soft and warm feeling, almost safe. But even at the thought it seemed as if the ship heard her and it gave a slight lurch. Charlotte moved to her room, throwing open the door she turned the light on in that room and moved to the wardrobe. She pulled the doors open and found her suitcase, which Charlotte pulled out and set on top of the bed. There were a few things lining the bottom of the suitcase that had belonged to her parents, including a handkerchief which her mother had embroidered upon. Charlotte shoved it deep into her pockets, found any other small items she could store in her coat, and then closed the suitcase. It struck her as odd to replace the case where she had found it, so she left it on the bed. Her eyes fell on the bible, her father's bible and there was nothing she could do about it. She briefly wondered if Charles would be willing to store it under a seat in the lifeboat, and she could find it later. Finally, Charlotte decided it would be worth a try, so she grabbed it and left the room.

Once in the sitting room again, she tried to decide what to do next, finally deciding to go into Isabel's room. Charlotte opened Isabel's wardrobe, found a small bag that would easily fit in her pocket, and she grabbed Isabel's favorite pieces of jewelry stuffing the items into the bag. She was just about to move to see if there was anything of Mrs. Phillips things that she could save, when she heard the door open. Charlotte frowned and then carefully put the bag into her pocket and then exited the room.

Luke was standing in the sitting room, a bottle of whiskey in hand, "What are you doing here?" he asked when he saw Charlotte.

She was silent, weighing her options. Luke was standing right in front of the door and even if he was drunk, she was quite sure she wouldn't be able to push him away from the door. Finally, Charlotte answered, "I was retrieving some things for Isabel."

"What things?" Luke asked, looking around to see if there was anything in her hands.

"Just some small trinkets she's had since she was a child," Charlotte answered, shrugging.

"You've come back to rob them, haven't you?" he accused.

"Hardly, I actually care about what happens to Isabel and her family. There is no life for me if I steal from them."

Luke looked enraged, "And what does 'I actually care about what happens to Isabel and her family,' exactly mean?"

Charlotte glared, "You know full well what it means and when this whole god awful affair is over, whether you survive this disaster or not, I intend to tell Isabel what you tried to do to me."

In those brief moments, Charlotte noticed Luke's nostrils flared when he was angry, and his skin turned an awful shade of red. Luke strode purposefully across the room and slapped her again, in the same spot where she already had a bruise. Charlotte staggered backwards, her hand flying to her face, the skin stinging worse than before. Luke shoved her into a door, causing Charlotte to hit her head on the wood. She slid to the ground, holding the back of her head now.

"Even if I do die tonight, I will be sure you die too. I am not going to let some little English bitch tarnish my name. Those damn people in the lifeboats will believe I died with honor," he spat.

Charlotte's hands felt a wet and sticky bump on the back of her head, and her eyes crossed slightly. She fought to keep her vision straight as Luke took another swig from the bottle and then he opened the door and closed it behind him. She heard the door lock and felt tears well in her eyes. Charlotte tried to stand up but she felt dizzy so she sat back down again. Her eyes blinked once, twice, "Stay awake," she said aloud. An image of Charles flooded to the forefront of her mind, she sincerely hoped she would see him again, but at this point she couldn't be sure. Her eyes fluttered once more and then they closed; the effects of the bump had taken hold and she was asleep.

**Xx**

**A/N- oooh drama! Please review and if I survive the next eight hours, I'll start work on the next chapter when I get home...**

**Assuming I can still stand up...**


	11. There is Your Beautiful Nightdress Gone

Chapter 11

There is Your Beautiful Nightdress Gone

"Damn this coat," Charles complained. He had been working nearly nonstop and now felt every inch of his body drenched in sweat, despite the crisp chill in the air. The ship was sinking farther below the ocean and Charles knew that soon the water would reach him. He pulled he heavy wool coat off and dropped it onto the deck before continuing to fill the boats.

"Hello Lights, are you warm?"

He turned to see the Assistant Surgeon Simpson, who despite the severity of the situation, he was smiling at Charles.

Charles simply shook his head and then he turned back to boat number four, which was becoming his least favorite boat of the evening to launch. They had struggled for a good fifteen minutes to hook it up to the falls and now he was having to yell at husbands who were insistent they would go with their young wives.

He climbed over the side of the ship and into the lifeboat to help passengers in, holding a hand out for young Madeline Astor.

"Sir, may I go with my wife? She is in a delicate condition."

Charles looked up at J.J. Astor; he had been helping Madeline get situated in the boat. Her jacket hadn't been buttoned up completely and he did see a small round pregnant bump but he simply shook his head at Mr. Astor, "I'm sorry sir, but it's only women and children right now." He helped more women climb over the side of the boat and then jumped back onto the ship.

J.J was clearly irritated, "Well can I at least have the boat number?"

"It's boat number four," Charles said. He turned to the Ryerson family and helped the women into the boat.

"What about Jack?" Mrs. Ryerson cried.

Charles looked at Jack Ryerson, who looked to be a young man and he simply shook his head, "Only women and children, I'm sorry."

"For God's sake!" Mr. Ryerson shouted, "He's a boy!"

Charles grimaced, "Fine...but only him."

Jack climbed into the boat with his family.

"Right, that's everyone," Charles said next after seeing the boat was filled. He stepped back and yelled, "LOWER AWAY!"

Mr. Astor watched his wife be lowered away from him and when boat four hit the water, Charles didn't even notice J.J walk away.

"Wonder why he wanted the boat number," an officer said.

"Oh, I'm sure it's merely in order to locate his wife when we're rescue," Colonel Gracie spoke up.

Charles looked at the man who had been trying to help them fill boats the entire evening, "More like he thinks he is going to complain to Ismay when all of this is said and done."

xx

Cold water splashed around on Charlotte's face and she awoke with a start, instantly sitting up, but immediately regretting the sudden movement. She felt dried blood in her hair and the room was spinning before her. Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again and looking around. Water was creeping into the room and it had tilted considerably.

"Oh God," she murmured. Charlotte stood to her feet, checked her pocket for the bag with Isabel's things and grabbed her father's bible. She considered it for a moment and then decided trying to save it now was useless. Charlotte ran to the door and tried the handle; it wouldn't budge.

"Oh no," she cried.

She banged her fist against the door, "Someone help me!" She screamed. No one was coming, and the water was rapidly raising around her ankles.

"Please!" she screamed until her voice was hoarse, "I'm locked in! Someone!" Charlotte threw her body against the door, but it wouldn't budge. She leaned against it, fat tears spilling down her cheeks, "Please," she choked out, but the words were useless and soft.

Charlotte stood there and started thinking, "Maybe it won't be so bad to die."

She was about to move away from the door when she heard a faint voice, "Is anyone down here?"

Charlotte stood up straight, "I'm down here!" she screamed, banging on the door. "I've been locked in and I can't get out!"

"Hello?" the voice was getting closer. Charlotte heard a door, not far from her room at all, open and then then voice again, "Anyone in here?"

Charlotte banged her fist against the door again, "Please!"

Then the person tried the doorknob, "IS someone in here?"

Charlotte cried out with relief, "Yes, I was locked in. I can't get out!" She paused, "Please help me...the water is rising. I don't-" her sobs choked her up; "I don't want to die."

"You won't," the voice replied, "Not unless I have something to do with it." There was silence and then, "Stand back, I'm going to kick the door in."

Charlotte moved away from the door, "Okay, I'm away from the door!"

There was a brief moment of silence, where the only thing Charlotte head was the cold water lapping up against the surfaces in the room. She was almost thinking that she had imagined the whole thing, a side effect of the bump on her head, but that was when there was a loud splintering noise as the mysterious persons foot came into contact with the door. Shards of wood broke off on her side, but the door still did not open. "I'm going to try again!" he called back.

There was another moment of silence and then the foot came into contact with the door and this time it flew open. On the other side was the man, "Come along, you don't have much time to get up to the deck."

Charlotte ran out of the room and threw her arms around the man, "Thank you so much!"

His arms wrapped around her briefly, "You are welcome child, but you must hurry."

Charlotte looked up the hall towards where she needed to go then back to her rescuer, "I have to know your name sir, please."

The man smiled kindly, "I'm Thomas Andrews, I built the ship," and there was sadness in his voice as he looked around at his creation, "All of this is my fault, so the least I could do was to save as many people as I could."

She felt another tear fall down her face, "This is not your fault sir," Charlotte said and then she kissed him on the cheek, "Good luck to you sir."

Thomas nodded, "Good luck to you."

The two started up the hall together with Charlotte running ahead of him. She reached the grand staircase and was about to climb them when she saw Thomas disappearing into the smoking room, clearly having no intention of saving himself. She wanted to run after him, scream at him to come with her, to save him, but Charlotte somehow knew it would be a pointless effort. Quickly she brought her legs to climb the stairs and in a moment she was outside, the music from the band, which had started a few hours ago, was still wafting up the deck. Charlotte looked down towards the bow of the ship and the water was climbing. Next she looked towards the stern and saw that was where everyone was running, so Charlotte followed. Pushing past people as the ship slipped farther below the waves. People were screaming, crying out for help, and some were already jumping into the water. Charlotte grabbed hold of a structure and contemplated it, at the very least it would give her a chance to try and get away from the ship before the suction. Charlotte looked back up to the stern where people were still climbing and if she didn't do something soon, she was going to slide back down the ship and into the water, with no hope of being saved. Finally she pushed herself forward and ran as hard as she could against gravity, which she was terrified would win.

At last her hands clamped down on the ice cold railing of the stern, Charlotte stayed there for a moment and then looked at the people around her. They were climbing over the railing to the other side of the ship. She tried to pull herself over, but it was difficult and she was afraid to let go of the railing.

"Take my hand!"

Charlotte looked at a man who was already on the other side; he was one of the stewards.

"It's Charlotte isn't it?"

She nodded her head.

"Take my hand Charlotte!"

Charlotte reached out for him and he quickly pulled her over the side, she was about open her mouth to say thanks but that was when all of the lights flickered and then they were out. Screamed permeated the air but Charlotte kept her mouth shut because the next thing was truly horrific. There was a loud groaning noise, as if the ship was protesting because the Titanic just could not hold the weight of trillions of gallons of water, as well as the people who hadn't yet escaped. She lay on the railing and then the loud splitting noise met her ears, like her door breaking open, but amplified throughout the Atlantic Ocean. The music had stopped now and all anyone heard was the ship as it snapped and yet more screams of terror rang out.

The ship slammed down onto the ocean next and for a brief second it was level once more. Charlotte looked around and then the ship began to dip below the ocean and then the entire stern was sticking up in the air before she could even think about it. Her eyes shut because Charlotte couldn't bear to look at what was happening around her.

"Charlotte?"

Her eyes opened and she fixed them onto the steward.

"Charlotte, the ship, when it goes down, it's going to pull you down with it. You have to get off of the ship before it's totally submerged, okay?"

She gave a nod and watched as he stood up, several others were following his lead, and so Charlotte stood to her own two feet. Her head spun from the bump on her head and she reached out for the young steward to balance herself. She looked and waited as the ship sunk lower and then, right at the last minute, Charlotte, the steward, and the lucky few who stood on the other side of the ship with them, jumped into the ocean. Her eyes opened under water and the salt stung her eyes, but Charlotte could think of only one thing, and that was to kick as hard as she could to the surface. The suction was strong and it tried to take her down with it, but she kept kicking until finally her head reached the surface and she took in a deep gasping breath.

It was only once she was above water that she realized just how cold it was. Her body was already numb and it felt as if someone was repeatedly stabbing her over and over again. Charlotte moved and with each kick, her entire body screamed in protest. The ocean was full of thousands of people, screaming and crying out for help.

"RETURN THE BOATS!" a voice shouted.

Charlotte saw an officer clinging to a door and she moved past him, trying to find a surface to climb on. Her head was splitting and all she wanted to do was to close her eyes, but she was terrified that if she did that, she would never wake up again.

When Charlotte was ten, her father had taken her to the lake by her grandparents' home when the family had been given time off, and that was where she had learned to swim. When she became Isabel's personal maid, Mr. Phillips insisted that Charlotte have proper lessons in case something ever happened to Isabel while they were at the Phillips country home. She had thought them silly at the time because Isabel was an excellent swimmer, now she swore that if she survived the night, she would drop down on her knees and thank Mr. Phillips for his wisdom in the matter.

It was hard for her to bring her arms up to do a stroke, because of the bulky life jacket, so it was slow moving and her muscles ached. Charlotte reached out whenever she found some form of debris and finally her hand came down on a large piece of wood. It was half of a door, she looked at it, she couldn't lie down, but if she could get up on it, she would be able to sit up on it. Carefully and slowly, Charlotte moved onto the wood until finally she was on all fours, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sit down. If she tried, the door would have just kicked her back into the ocean. Her head was still screaming in protest and now came the hard part, keeping her eyes open long enough to be rescued.

Xx

Somewhere farther out, drifting in the water, was collapsible B, which was where Charles had found himself. The boat had become overturn and the attempts to get it right side up had been fruitless when the ship finally started going down. It had been bad enough when the funnel broke, which slammed down into the Atlantic, the force of which sent the boat about thirty yards out.

As they sat in that moment, the boat was already crowded and Charles couldn't be sure how long it would float. He eyed the water warily, every inch of him was soaked and his bones ached from the pain of the icy water. The thought of falling back into this water terrified him, so much so that when men started swimming towards collapsible B, they started saying, "I'm sorry, there's no room."

Someone had just been passing around a flask when splashing right near Charles made him look. Another man was swimming towards the boat, "Sorry old man, there's no room!" Charles said.

"Why is it always you?" the voice asked.

Charles frowned and looked as the man came closer; it was Luke.

"There's no room," Charles answered through gritted teeth.

Luke looked around and he made to grab hold of a side of the boat where Charles' leg was and he gave a violent kick right into Luke's nose. He couldn't tell if he had broken Luke's nose, but Charles sincerely hoped so.

"You son of a bitch!" Luke spat, but his voice was thick and nasally.

"Problem?" one of the men who had his back to Charles asked, as he carefully turned to investigate the situation, being sure to not tip the lifeboat.

"This man tried to force his way onto the boat, after I told him that if he did, we would all wind up in the ocean. I kicked him to get him off of the boat," Charles explained.

"Sorry fellow, but we just can't spare room!" the man said.

"You'll regret this!" Luke shouted, giving Charles the dirtiest look he could manage before swimming off.

Xxx

As the hours passed, it grew steadily quieter; screams for help died down until there was only the occasional splash, but soon those died too. Charlotte's eyes were heavy and crying to be closed, but she refused to let her eyes stay shut for more than a second. Every inch of her body was sore and exhausted and all Charlotte wanted was to sleep, even if it meant a never ending rest. The idea of death occurred to her once more and Charlotte was thinking it would be lovely because nothing would hurt if she was dead. She had been twenty-five for a few hours now and it had only just occurred to her. While twenty-five was young, Charlotte thought it would be a good age to die. She was old enough to have seen some things, lived a life, but young enough to still be considered beautiful. Her entire teenage years, Charlotte had lived in fear of becoming old and wrinkled, dying in pain because none of her muscles worked anymore. If she died on her twenty fifth birthday, then that old and conceited fear of hers would never come to be.

She had just given in, finally deciding to slip into the water and let the ocean take her, absolutely refusing to think of Charles because it hurt her heart too much, when she heard a loud voice boom across the vast ocean, "IS ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE?"

Charlotte looked up and saw a bright light flashing towards her. She opened her mouth and tried to get a sound to come out, but her mouth was so dry she couldn't muster a sound. She looked down at the water and splashed her hand down hard.

"HELLO?"

She splashed again and then brought a handful of water to her mouth. The salt was disgusting but it managed to moisten her tongue a bit, "I'm over here!" Charlotte was terrified by how hoarse her voice was and she wasn't even sure if the man with the light had heard her at all. She hung her head, her strength buckling in on its self when she heard a soft splashing of oars in the water.

"Don't hit the bodies," a soft voice said.

It hurt to raise her head but Charlotte forced her neck muscles to move and she saw the boat coming closer to her.

"Raise your oars, let's float now," a man said.

"Is it a woman?"

"Hello?" the voice asked.

It was so close now, Charlotte almost thought she'd be able to reach out for it, "Please...I don't want to die," and she thought of when she had spoken those words to Thomas Andrews. It all seemed like a lifetime ago now.

"We're not going to let you die, not if we can help it," the voice said.

Charlotte watched and within seconds the boat was right beside her and warm arms were wrapping around her stomach and they had pulled her into the boat.

"Are you hurt?" the man asked who had pulled her in.

Charlotte nodded, "Back of my head."

It felt good to be laying down now, "I hit my he-" Her eyes closed again and she was asleep once more.

**Xxx**

**A/N-So, for finishing two chapters in one day...I totally get excused if I don't get to update in the next few days, right? Uhm anyways..Yeah once I got home from work I just worked on this because it's been running in my head for hours.**

**Please review...xo**

**Ps. chapter title was taken from a chapter title in Walter Lord's book "A Night to Remember," which was actually inspired by words spoken by Lady Cosmo Duff Gordon to her ****secretary in boat 1 on the night of the sinking.**


	12. Bruises and Contusions

Chapter 12

Bruises and Contusions

"Mummy?"

Mrs. Phillips raised her head from where it had been resting on her husband's shoulder and she fixed her daughter with a look. Isabel had stopped calling her "Mummy," when she turned thirteen. Now it sounded strange and almost foreign to be coming from her child's mouth. "Yes child?" she asked in a quiet voice, trying to ignore the sounds of the other women in the boat crying.

There was a long pause as Isabel tried to find the best way possible to phrase her question something that was so delicate and she was terrified of what the answer would be, finally she asked, "Do you think Charlotte got in a boat?"

Mrs. Phillips considered the question and finally said, "I believe she survive the night."

"I believe so too," Isabel said at last.

They looked up at the long hull of the Carpathia as women climbed up ladders or people were carried up via a bag attached to ropes, it was for those who were too weak to climb.

She hoped that within a few hours she would find Charlotte and the two girls would be together again, not once did Isabel's mind worry about the wellbeing of Luke; Charlotte was her only concern at the time.

Xx

"Hurry along please!" the men of collapsible B shouted, "This boat can't stay afloat much longer!"

Charles was up on the ladder and waited on the side of the ship for the other survivors. They had been the last boat to be rescued because they had been so far out. In fact, if Charles hadn't found his whistle, they may not have been noticed. Colonel Gracie was standing beside him, wrapped up in a blanket, he apparently had also made it a priority to stand there and wait until all of the survivors were on the deck. Charles' stomach lurched as Harold Bride climbed up and he saw Jack Phillips lifeless body clinging to the edge of the boat. He exchanged a glance with Harold who looked sick after having seen his friend.

At last, all of the men were off of the boat and Charles went off to find who was left of his fellow officers.

Xx

"How long has she been out like this?"

The young man shrugged his jacket off, it was warm inside of the makeshift infirmary and he felt as if he was going to break a sweat, "Well she was one of the survivors we found in the water. She was awake when we pulled her in, I asked if she had any injuries and she told us her head. I was under the impression she had been fighting to stay awake for the sake of surviving and once she felt, 'safe,' she gave in and fell asleep," he paused as the doctor took notes, "Will she be alright?"

The doctor looked up, "I believe she may, but it sounds like she has some form of serious head trauma so it is hard to say." He examined her face, "Was her face swollen like this when you found her?"

The officer looked at the young girl in the bed. Her face hadn't seemed so bad the night before but now she had a bruise around her eye and her cheek was swollen up, as if she had been hit in the face with something. He shrugged, "It wasn't this bad and she hardly seemed concerned about it when I asked her if she was hurt."

The doctor wrote down more notes, "My main concern is getting her to wake up and for the swelling to go down. If she has any family that survived they could be looking for her but no one can identify her, not with her face like this at any rate." The doctor sighed and took his glasses off, placing them into his pocket; he looked to the man in front of him, "Alright sailor, and thank you for your help."

The young man nodded and walked out of the room.

Xx

"No one has seen her," Isabel announced, returning to her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips were both sitting on a bench wrapped in blankets, hot cups of tea in their hands. Isabel had been offered a blanket and some tea but she turned them down to go off in search of her maid. "I have described her to every crew member I could find from this ship and everyone said it did not ring a bell. Another fellow told me they would be taking names from everyone soon to release a survivor list to the public so he told me to check the list," Isabel sighed, "But I checked the infirmary as well and I did not see her!"

The young girl looked as if she was about to cry and sat down beside her mother.

"She will turn up my dear girl," Mr. Phillips said, looking at his only child.

Isabel had tears in her eyes when she looked up to her father, "I hope-" she was cut off when she saw Charles Lightoller walking down the deck with another officer. She stood to her feet and ran up to him, "Mr. Lightoller!" she exclaimed.

Charles had been so engrossed in his conversation with Joseph that he hadn't even noticed Isabel until the girl had shouted his name. "Oh Miss. Phillips, I am so pleased to see you!" He looked past her to the bench and saw only Isabel's parents.

"Oh I'm so relieved to see you too!" Isabel said, she was smiling, "I was thinking if I could only find you, you would know where Charlotte was."

Charles' smiled dropped into a frown, "I beg your pardon?"

Isabel was confused by his reaction, "Well I cannot find Charlotte but I thought maybe you had seen her," fear slowly crept into her voice, "Have you not seen her?"

Charles shook his head, "I thought she got off of the ship with you. I have been so busy and I was actually heading off to find some place to rest for a few hours. I was on collapsible B which was upside down all night long."

"That Murdoch fellow would not let Charlotte or Luke into the boat with us!" Isabel cried, "He said the boat was too full. Charlotte said she would get the next one," and then tears were choking Isabel up, "But no one has seen her!"

Charles felt as if an ice cold hand had just gripped around his heart and was pulling at it. There was just no way Charlotte had not survived, he could not stomach the idea or the possibility. "I was going to marry her," he said, so softly that Isabel did a double take.

"You what?"

Charles looked at her, "At her birthday supper I told her I was going to court her properly and," he took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair, "I intended to marry her."

Isabel threw her hands to her face and began to cry, her whole body shaking violently. Charles looked back at her and carefully led her over to her parents.

"What is the meaning of all this, Lightoller?" Mr. Phillips demanded, rising to his feet.

Charles looked at him as if he had not heard Mr. Phillips at all, "I am sorry, what?"

"What is the meaning of my child's tears?"

Charles looked at Isabel and then back to Mr. Phillips, "She thought I would have seen Charlotte but-" his voice was becoming choked up, "I thought she got off of the ship with you. I have not seen her since I told her that the ship was sinking."

"Charles?"

He turned to look at Joseph, "Come on old man, let's see if we can find out anything else about this girl."

Charles looked back at the Phillips, "If I find anything out, I will let you know."

Isabel gave a sort of weak nod, "Thank you Mr. Lightoller."

He nodded and walked off with Joseph.

Xx

Two days passed and the Carpathia sailed on to New York and away from the disaster site. Charlotte did not turn up and her name was not amongst the list of survivors. The girl in the infirmary was still unconscious and the doctor had diagnosed her with some form of a concussion. He hoped that before they reached New York she would wake in order to tell her name. Her face injuries were healing but slowly, the swelling had receded but she still had dark bruises on her cheek. She was one of the few passengers who had a curtain around her bed, purely for privacy matters. Most of the passengers who had found themselves in the infirmary were simply recovering from shock.

Isabel had come to terms with the fact that Charlotte had not survived the disaster and word came that people had seen Luke swimming in the water after the sinking, but as he had not turned up on the Carpathia either, they determined he was more than likely dead too. The family had been lucky enough to be given a small room to share, with her parents on the bottom bunk, and Isabel in the top. She wouldn't leave her room because she was too stricken with grief, though her parents couldn't determine if it was more grief for Charlotte or Luke.

Charles had been the senior most officer that had survived the disaster, so he was forced to keep going. Only Joseph had seen him react on the first day to the news that Charlotte was missing and since then, Charles refused to show any emotion.

Xx

On the morning of the eighteenth, the doctor had awoken early to check on his patients. News had reached the officers and crew that they were nearing the main land and he wanted to tell his patients this. He made his way up the aisle with his mystery woman being last. The doctor pulled a clipboard out and placed his glasses on his face before pulling back the curtain, where to his immense surprise, the girl's eyes were open.

"Well, hello there," he greeted, his voice full of surprise.

She stared at him, "Where am I?"

"You are in the infirmary of the Carpathia. You've been unconscious for the last three days, ever since they pulled you from the water."

She seemed to be trying to comprehend the man's words and didn't have a chance to respond before he sat down in a chair beside the bed and asked, "Do you know what your name is?"

"Of course I do," she said, eying him warily.

"Well?"

"My name is Charlotte Bennett."

A flicker of recognition passed across the doctor's face, but he seemed confused, and repeated the name in a low whisper, as if trying to place it.

"What happened?" Charlotte asked next.

The doctor was pulled from his thoughts and looked at the girl with raised eyebrows, "Well Miss. Bennett, I was rather hoping you could tell me that. In particular, how you got the nasty gash on the back of your head and the bruises on your face."

She frowned, "Bruises?"

The doctor stood up from his chair and pulled a mirror out of the bedside table, he carefully handed it to her.

Charlotte was tentative to see her reflection as she turned the silver handled mirror around. The glass was pristine and clean, but the girl who looked back at her hardly resembled herself. Where Luke had slapped her with so much force twice in the same day, her facial features were now paying the price. She reached up and touched the skin and still felt a slight sting, but it was not nearly as bad as the first day.

"How many people died?" she finally asked, tearing her gaze from her reflection and setting the mirror down on the bed beside her.

The doctor looked surprised at the question, "Well an estimate is about fifteen hundred right now. Or at the very least, we have just over seven hundred passengers now on the Carpathia with us."

Charlotte's stomach lurched and she looked away, her brain swirling with thoughts, and she hoped...no prayed, that Luke was not amongst the seven hundred. Her eyes fell on her mother's wedding ring, still firmly around her ring finger and she thought of Charles, "Any officers survive?" she asked quietly.

"Only a handful."

"When can I leave?" Charlotte asked next, turning her head back to look at him, "I should really find the family I serve; they must be worried sick about me."

The doctor was about to say something and then frowned, "Serve?"

"Yes sir, I am a maid to the Phillips family of London."

He moved again to the bedside table, opened the drawer and pulled out a small purse, which Charlotte recognized as Isabel's, "Then what is this?"

"It belongs to my young mistress," she paused, "I went back to our rooms to see if I could save anything. I gathered what I could of her favorite pieces and shoved them in my pocket so I could give them to her."

The doctor nodded, "Well miss, I can get word to the Phillips family but you still have not told me what happened to you."

Charlotte sighed, "I will tell you how I received the head wound and the bruises but you cannot tell my family. You will understand why after I tell you, but it must be me to tell Miss. Phillips."

He nodded once more and returned to his seat, "Please tell me."

So Charlotte began her tale, going all the way back to the evening of the thirteenth and Luke's initial attempted assault. She explained about her boldness in the morning of the fourteenth and in the evening, and how both occasions warranted a slap to her face. Charlotte told how Luke had even shoved her so she staggered and had hit her head on the door, hence the head wound. "Then, before I could react, he locked me in the room."

The doctor had a look of pure horror on his face and he simply shook his head as he wrote down the cause of the head wound and bruises, "So how did you get out?"

She thought, as if trying to remember and sighed as the memories came rushing back, "The room started flooding and the cold water is what woke me up. I screamed and cried for help, I thought I would surely die that night. Thomas Andrews, the Master Shipbuilder came to my rescue; he kicked the door in and got me out, saw me safely to the grand staircase, and then he went off to the smoking room. I ran up to the deck, a steward helped me climb over to the other side of the railing of the stern. Once in the water I swam until I found a door and-"

"Waited until the boat came back for survivors, then you passed out," the doctor finished for her.

Charlotte nodded, "I suppose the crewmen who rescued me were able to tell you the rest."

"That's right," he nodded, standing up and putting the chair back in the corner, "I am going to see what I can dig up in the way of your family and I will let them know you are alright, awake, and that they can come see you."

"Thank you doctor."

Charlotte watched the man pull the curtains open, walk beyond them, and then he pulled the curtains back around her bed. A moment later she heard a door open and then close behind him. She stared up at the ceiling of the room she was in, thinking about everything that had happened. Charlotte had contemplated asking him to inquire about Charles, but she was terrified of the response. Only a handful? Well how many officers of the seven plus the Captain equated to a handful?

She was absolutely struck with fear at the idea of Charles lying dead at the bottom of the Atlantic. Charlotte looked around at her surroundings and suddenly she felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. Everything, the curtains surrounding her bed, the blankets wrapped around her legs, it was all closing in on her. Charlotte tore the blankets off of her legs and swung them over the side, her feet hitting a carpeted floor. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she ripped the curtains open, she stood there for a moment taking in her surroundings. It was a dining room that had been turned into an infirmary and there was a row of beds on each side of the room. Some beds had curtains and some did not, those patients without stared at her.

"Nothing to worry about miss," someone to her right said. Charlotte looked at the woman, "It's all over now."

Charlotte didn't respond and instead looked for the door out of the room, she ran towards it and opened the door, leaving it open behind her as she dashed out of the room. There were three hallways before her and so Charlotte ran to the right, not having the slightest clue where she was going but all she could do was run. At some point she found herself in a hallway that seemed to be full of staterooms. On each side of the hall there were doors. She ran down another corner and stopped in her tracks as she saw someone coming out of a room. Charlotte contemplated turning and running back but it was too late, because the man was out of the room and he had seen her as he closed the door.

"Are you alright miss?" the man asked warily, an exhausted tone in his voice.

Charlotte looked up from her feet at the voice, she knew that voice. Her stomach did several somersaults as she looked up, her gaze meeting the man's. He had started to approach her and now they weren't but twenty feet apart and he had stopped in his tracks when the girl had looked up at him.

"Ch-Charlotte?" His voice had gone dry suddenly, as if someone had taken every last drop of moisture from his mouth.

Charlotte's hands fell to her side and her lower lip trembled, "You are alive!" she breathed.

In several quick strides, Charles Lightoller was standing in front of Charlotte. He took her hands into his, running his thumbs over her knuckles and then he dropped them, cupping her face as if checking to see if she was real, if she was actually alive. His eyes fell on her bruises and he stared, but instead of asking about them he said, "I thought you were dead. No one had seen you since you had run off after Will wouldn't let you in the boat. Isabel is absolutely struck with grief and I-" he faltered and carefully tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, "Where were you?"

Charlotte looked up at him, "Unconscious in the infirmary apparently."

Charles stared, "I checked there."

"They had a curtain up around my bed, I guess to hide my hideously bruised face from the already distraught passengers," Charlotte muttered, shrugging.

His gaze was brought back to her bruises, "How did you get these?"

Charlotte stared up at him, "Luke."

Charles' eyes met hers and he simply said, "Well I suppose it is a good thing he died in the sinking."

She raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?"

"Because, I would have killed him myself."

**xx**

**A/N- Thoughts, comments, etc. I would have updated sooner but besides going to work I've stayed in bed the last two days because I was sick...I'm still kinda sick today but not as bad as I was...**

**Hope you enjoyed, xo.**


	13. To Whom It May Concern

Chapter 13

To Whom It May Concern

"What do you mean she was right here and now she is not?" Isabelle cried.

The doctor had a worn and exhausted look on his face, from having to cater to Ismay and take care of his patients; he had barely managed more than an hour's worth of sleep in the course of a three day time span.

"She must have gotten up and left," the doctor stepped outside of the curtained area and looked to a patient who was watching the whole scene, "Chap, did you see the girl who was here leave?"

"Yes she went out the door, seemed to be having some sort of a fit and she took off."

"Thanks old man," he returned to the Phillips family, "We will have to go find her and-"

The door to the infirmary opened and then closed and Charlotte appeared with Charles' arm was wrapped around her protectively. Charlotte looked at the scene in front of her, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips both stared as if they had just seen a ghost and then there was Isabel; she was crying and then she pushed past her parents and the doctor and had thrown her arms around Charlotte, who staggered as she was separated from Charles' grip.

"Oh Charlotte!" Isabelle cried, "I thought you were dead. I thought I had lost my oldest friend and I have been so miserable."

"I am truly sorry Izzie," Charlotte murmured, "I never intended to scare you."

Isabelle pulled away from Charlotte and she was beaming now clearly overjoyed that her friend was alive, despite Charlotte's current appearance. "You have to tell me what happened!"

Charlotte's eyes darted around the room and then to Charles who cleared his throat, "I found Charlotte in quite state. Miss. Phillips, with all due respect, I believe it would be better if she could lie down and rest a bit."

"Quite right," the doctor announced. He held his hand out for Charlotte's, she took it and he led her to the bed, helping her to get settled in.

"I will give you all some privacy," the doctor said once Charlotte was situated in the bed. He moved to the exit, "Come along Lightoller, family only."

Charlotte looked up, "No, I want him here."

The doctor looked back at her, "Your family that you work for has been quite worried about you. Your social call with the officer can wait, Miss. Bennett."

"It is not just a social call!" Charlotte protested. To be honest, even though what she needed to tell the Phillips was best said between the four of them, the idea of Charles having to leave scared her. She was clinging to the frayed edges of her life right now and she thought that if Charles left it would all have been a dream and he would be dead.

Charles saw the fear in Charlotte's eyes, "I will be right back," he told her before taking the doctor by the shoulder and stepping outside of the curtained area.

Charlotte tried to see beyond where they went and she heard the muffle sound of Charles' voice but she had no clue what he was saying. A moment later Charles returned, pulling the curtain closed behind him.

Isabelle looked at Charles for a moment and then back to Charlotte, "So please tell us what happened, I cannot even begin to explain the nervous state I have been in."

Charlotte's eyes met Charles for a moment who nodded in encouragement and then she looked at Isabelle and the girl's parents, "What I have to say may be hard for you to hear so you would be better off to sit down."

Isabelle sat down on the edge of Charlotte's bed while Mr. Phillips pulled the chair out of the corner for his wife. He stood behind his wife, "Go on child," he urged gently.

Charlotte took a deep breath, "You know I would never say anything to hurt you and I would never speak ill of someone unless it were true, right?" she asked, searching the faces of the Phillips family.

Isabelle nodded, "Of course!" she was smiling though she felt a nervous tug somewhere deep inside, as if she was about to hear something that she wasn't quite sure she wanted to hear.

So for the second time that day, she told the story of what had happened to her on the Titanic. Charlotte started with the evening of the thirteenth and explained a bit about what Ismay had been referring to the night Luke had showed up at his room drunk. Isabelle's hands clutched her chest as she listened to Charlotte's words and looked in horror at Charles as he added in the part where he had taken care of Charlotte in the aftermath of the attempt. Mr. Phillips face was red with anger as Charlotte explained how Luke had hit her and locked her in the room and when Charlotte was finally done she felt as if she had just been swimming in the icy water again, she was winded and exhausted. She leaned back into the pillows, her eyes half open as Mr. Phillips said, "What a despicable coward of a man."

"And I was going to marry him," Isabelle looked disgusted with herself.

"It is not your fault," Charlotte said, reaching for Isabelle's hand, "He did not start out this way, or at the very least, we did not know. How could we?"

Isabelle looked at her maid and friend, "I am truly sorry Charlotte."

Charlotte simply waved a hand, "What is done is done and I am ready to move on from it."

They were silent for a moment and then Charles said, in an attempt to find a new conversation topic (because he could tell Charlotte was desperate for one,) "Rostron told me we should be in New York before the evening is out."

Mr. Phillips looked at Charles and nodded, "Mm quite, I have sent ahead word. That Cottam fellow was overwhelmed but he was kind enough to send a message for me. I have to remember to praise him to the Captain."

"It is a great crew here on this ship and passengers for that matter too," Charles said.

"Yes I have seen more kindness these few days on this ship than I have my entire life from the best of London's society," Mrs. Phillips said.

"With all due respect ma'am, most of London society is very cruel people. I can only think of a handful of people, your closest friends in fact, that have ever been kind and concerned about anything other than themselves," Charlotte murmured.

Mrs. Phillips looked at the girl and gave a small smile, "I suppose you are right, dear."

"We should probably go," Isabelle said at last, "To let Charlotte rest."

Mr. Phillips nodded, "Yes, I would think that's for the best."

Charlotte smiled at them, "I will see you in a bit."

They nodded and Isabelle kissed Charlotte on the forehead, "I will see you in a bit, yes."

Charlotte and Charles watched the Phillips family file out of the room and then the curtain was pulled back around the bed, giving the couple privacy.

"Well, they handled that a bit better than we expected," Charles commented.

Charlotte nodded, "I was impressed."

There was silence again and Charlotte stared at her mother's ring on her finger, "This is all I have left of my parents now," she said quietly.

Charles followed her gaze and looked at the ring. "I'm sorry Charlotte," he whispered.

Charlotte either did not hear Charles or she did but she just chose to not acknowledge his words. "I thought I was going to die," she paused, thinking back to that night in the water. "If that boat had not come back when it did, I was going to just slip into the water. I was so tired and cold; I thought how easy it would be to just give up." This time, when the words left her mouth she did look at Charles, "You were the only thing that kept me going and kept me fighting," her words were choked up and thick with emotion, she blinked away tears, "If we had not of met I would have just given up."

Charles crossed the space between them and knelt down at her bedside. Gently he took her small hands into his and ran his thumbs over her knuckles. Their gazes met for a moment and then Charles placed a gentle kiss to her hands, "You are here now though and that is all that matters."

She stared at him and their hands; her hand seemed to just fit into Charles' like the missing puzzle piece, in that moment Charlotte felt as if she had finally found the one thing she never knew she had been looking for. Eventually Charlotte was able to fall asleep and Charles did not move until the doctor returned.

"Everything go okay with her?" the doctor asked, looking at Charles.

Charles nodded, "Her family knows how she got the bruises and they left to let her rest. She did not want me to leave her though."

"Well I just received word that the Captain is preparing the passengers. We will be in New York Harbor within two hours. Best to let Charlotte rest while she can and I am going to make arrangements to have her carried off onto a stretcher and have a wheelchair waiting for her. I do not want her on her feet much until that head wound has healed"

Charles listened to the man's words and nodded, "I better go and check in with my fellow officers," he stood to his feet and stretched, "Have you just been with Ismay?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes...he seemed relieved to be near land. I know he is sick with worry about tomorrow."

"This is nonsense with the US trying to assert some sort of authority over us, with this damn inquiry. It's just another chance for American politicians putting on a show. The fact we have to do this practically the minute we are off the ship with dead bodies still unaccounted for is disgusting."

"I agree and I know Ismay sort of shares the same thoughts. I know he does not want to answer to the Americans for this," the doctor gave a shrug; "You should go ahead and tend to whatever has to be taken care of."

Charles nodded, "I will be back to help get her off the ship."

"Very well."

Charles left and headed to the deck in search of his fellow officers and Captain Rostron.

**Xx**

**A/N- A very short chapter...I'm trying to get some stuff done and move on to other plot points because all of next week I don't think I'll be updating much...I have music camp every single day in the morning and then I will have to work...so yeah.**

**Reviews are love. Talk to y'all later. xo.**


	14. Promises in the Dark

Chapter 14

Promises in the Dark

It was complete and total pandemonium when Charlotte was carried off of the Carpathia. She was laid out on a stretcher and two men were carrying her down a gangplank into a surging throng of family, reporters, and police. Officers were trying to keep the press from swooping down on the passengers of the Titanic but there were still flashes wherever Charlotte tried to look. She placed her arm over her face to shield her sensitive eyes from the cameras. Once they were on flat ground, her hand reached out as if searching for someone or something.

Charles' warm and familiar grasp found hers, "Come on love," he whispered into her ear.

The men held the stretcher lower to the ground and steadied it so Charlotte could rise. She swung her legs over the side of the stretcher, ignoring the cameras that were going off. Her shoes hit the pavement and her legs shook as pain shot through her head. Charlotte fell into Charles' arms and he wrapped an arm around her waist, "Are you okay?" he asked.

Her hands gripped his arm and she shook her head, "My head."

Charles looked to Isabel who had the wheelchair and he waved a hand to urge her on. Isabel came rushing up with the chair and together they helped Charlotte into the seat. Mr. Phillips was right behind his daughter with his wife and urged them through the crowd, trying to shield his wife, daughter, and the maid from any cameras.

However as they worked through the crowd, Charles observed that some of the photographers were being relentless. When one shouted out his name, he realized the attention was on them because he was the senior most officer to survive. Charles frowned and bent to Charlotte's ear level, "You all are never going to get out of here unless I separate myself from you for a bit."

Charlotte clutched his sleeve, "Please do not-"

"I will meet up with you at the hotel, I promise," Charles said.

She stared at him for a moment and then finally loosened her grip, "Alright."

Charles refrained from showing her any further affection and then told Mr. Phillips what he was doing, who nodded, and then urged Isabel and his wife along. Charles stood there and watched as they finally seemed to find a car that was waiting, one that Mr. Phillips had ordered no doubt. He continued watching, straining his vision to see, and then at long last he saw the Phillips disappear into a car and then the car drove off into the night.

"Officer Lightoller!"

"Back off, mate!"

Charles turned his attention back to see Lowe, Boxhall, and Pittman standing behind him, all trying to keep the journalists away. "Come on mate, we have a long day tomorrow, you especially," Lowe started as he pushed Charles ahead so the man would start to move his feet.

"Let's see if we can hail a cab and then get to the hotel," Pittman commented.

Charles nodded and together the four men fought through the crowd until they reached a car that was waiting to carry passengers and crews off to hotels.

Xxx

Charlotte was quite convinced she had never seen something as lovely, as the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria. At the doors they were greeted by a staff who led them to a counter to check in, upon which they were greeted by the manager who gave his condolences upon the death of Isabelle's fiancée and assured them if they had any needs, he would see to them personally.

"We would just very much like warm beds to settle into for the evening," Mr. Phillips said, exhaustion was laced throughout his voice; it was not something Charlotte was used to hearing, but then again everyone around her these days seemed to be completely and utterly exhausted.

"Of course, of course," the manager said before leading them to the lift.

Everyone was silent as the lift rose effortlessly up to a higher floor; a soft ding alerted Charlotte that they were on their floor. The doors opened and Isabelle gently pushed Charlotte's wheelchair out of the lift, towards a door at the end of the hallway. Mr. Phillips slipped the key into the lock, turned it, and then opened the door into the room.

"We have two adjoining rooms," Mr. Phillips began to explain, "A room for your mother and I," Charlotte stopped listening when she realized he was talking to Isabelle, "And then a room with two double beds for you and Charlotte."

"Alright father," Isabelle said, looking around at what was clearly her suite because of the two beds.

"I think we can all agree we have had a very long day and I know your mother intends to take you both shopping tomorrow for new clothes, so I suggest a good night's rest," Mr. Phillips went on to say.

Isabelle hugged both of her parents and they in return gave her kisses on the cheek.

"Good night," Charlotte said, watching them head for the door that led into the adjoining suite.

"Good night girls," Mrs. Phillips said.

There was a latch and Charlotte knew without having to look that the door had been closed, "I am going to stay up until Charles gets here," she paused and glanced at Isabelle, "Just so I know everything is alright."

Isabelle nodded, she wanted to stay up with Charlotte but she knew the two wanted and deserved privacy. "Alright, good night Charlotte," she moved then to the bed, "You two behave." The accusation was teasing and Charlotte managed a smile at the girl, "Good night, Izzie."

Charlotte was still for a moment and then she carefully began to push the wheels towards the door. She watched Isabelle get settled and then found a blanket that was draped across a nearby chair. She draped it across her lap, opened the stateroom door, and left.

She sat right outside of the room for a while, waving away bellboys, and maids who walked by, who stopped to ask if Charlotte needed anything. She was exhausted even though all she had done was sleep for the last three days. Charlotte's eyes fluttered shut and then opened, she struggled to stay awake, but eventually sleep won out.

Xx

"These damn American's are like vultures!" Lowe commented as they drove away from the docks and toward a hotel.

"That is all I have been saying since we were informed we had to testify," Charles replied, but his voice was distant. His eyes were fixed on the buildings of New York City and he was struck with memories of trips to the States in the past.

"Lights, did you want to go and get a drink with us?" Pittman asked, "I figured we deserved it."

Charles looked back at Herbert and shook his head "No, I promised Charlotte I would be back with her as soon as possible," he bit his lip, "She's very fragile right now."

Harold nodded, "Lucky that I found her when I did," he said.

Charles looked at Harold, "You have no idea how grateful I am, Lowe."

Harold waved a hand, pushing the words away, "I was just doing my job."

At that the car stopped, "Waldorf Astoria, gentlemen."

Charles opened the door of the vehicle and climbed out first. The men climbed out, Pittman paid the driver, and then they all went inside of the hotel. "I'll see you in a bit," he told the men, before heading for the elevator.

Charles was silent as the elevator rose higher and higher, bringing him closer to Charlotte's floor. When the doors slid open, he tipped his hat to the boy operating the elevator, and he exited out into a carpeted hallway with the lights dimmed. He checked the room numbers and headed up until towards the end of the hall, he saw Charlotte in her wheelchair, hunched over and sound asleep. Charles laughed gently and approached her, bending down at her side when he reached her, he carefully took her hand into his and shook it.

"Charlotte?" he asked gently, reaching with his other hand to brush hair out of her face.

She made a noise of annoyance, but Charlotte's eyes opened and she looked at Charles, confusion in her expression, "Did I fall asleep?"

Charles laughed again, "Yes, you did. I'm sorry I took so long to get here."

She shrugged, "It happens."

"You should probably get some rest," he told her, gently.

Charlotte nodded, "I just wanted to see you," her hands reached out and touched Charles' face. She sighed, still not quite believing everything that had happened in the last few days.

Charles reached up and covered her hands with his, ""I know, I only ever want to see you," he sighed.

In the last few days Charles had felt as if he had aged considerably and he had noticed a change in Charlotte, too. They both felt older, tired, and dependent on the other to keep going.

"Charles, will you just lie with me?" she asked quietly, her voice wavering.

He nodded after a moment, "Yes."

Charlotte turned the wheels on her chair and moved it to go into her room. Charles gently turned the knob on the door and helped push Charlotte into the room. He closed the door behind him and pushed the chair to Charlotte's bed. Isabelle had a pillow over her head; a sign that she was sound asleep. At her bedside, Charlotte stood to her feet, and with Charles' help she sat down on the edge of the bed. This movement alone seemed to knock the wind out of Charlotte, increasing her levels of exhaustion.

She pulled the quilts down on the bed and slipped her legs under the blankets. Charles watched Charlotte as she relaxed under the covers and her head nestled into the pillow. After a moment he took his coat and hat off, and Charles lay down on the bed beside her, on top of the blankets. Charlotte moved her head so it was resting on his chest, listening to the gentle, rhythmic beating of his heart. It was the only comforting thing that Charlotte could cling to in that moment.

"Please do not ever leave me," she whispered into the dark.

He pressed his lips to her forehead and held her closer, "I will not ever leave you."

xx

A/N- Okay so this turned into another filler...which I apologize for. I have not been home the last two days and I am crazy busy with church and working every day this week...I apologize if anything was redundant...I Cannot even explain my levels of exhaustion. I have a lot planned for the next few chapters, so please just stick it out with me during this lull.

Also...I watched "A Night to Remember" on Monday because my mom bought it on DVD for me at like 60% off...IT WAS SOO GOOD! Despite the random little in-accuracies, I loved it...especially Lightoller. He made me laugh...also...DUCKY FROM NCIS WAS BRIDEEEEEEE!

:D


	15. I'm Not Calling You a Liar

Chapter 15

I'm Not Calling You a Liar

When Charlotte woke up the next morning, Charles had already left for the trials. She looked over at Isabelle who was still asleep in her bed and so Charlotte just stayed in bed for about an hour, staring up at the ceiling, her eyes going over the details in the molding around the room. Eventually a knock came from the adjoining room and Mrs. Phillips entered.

"Good morning Charlotte," Mrs. Phillips greeted gently, "Did you sleep well?"

Charlotte shrugged, "As well as I could, I suppose."

Mrs. Phillips nodded, "I understand."

She moved to her only child's bedside and shook her arm gently, "Isabelle it is time you wake up."

Charlotte watched the mother and daughter interact, and for the first time in five years, she felt a terrible pang of desire for her mother to be there. Isabelle slowly pulled herself into a sitting position and she looked over at Charlotte, "Good morning," she greeted.

"Good morning, Izzie."

"So girls," Mrs. Phillips said, "I think we should order something to eat. Then we are going to call for a mode of transportation and then we will leave, alright?"

"Where?" Charlotte asked, having forgotten any previously mentioned plans.

"We will be going shopping for a new wardrobe, dear," Mrs. Phillips replied, smiling gently.

Charlotte nodded, "Oh yes, I remember."

So the women rose for the day and after determining Charlotte was still weak on her feet, they helped her to settle into her wheelchair. They ate a full breakfast that room service delivered and after cleaning up a bit, Mrs. Phillips, Isabelle, and Charlotte left the room. On the way to the lobby doors, they passed a group of reporters who were waiting, and distantly Charlotte could hear a man's voice coming from the trial room. She wondered how things were going and hoped to find out from Charles that evening.

Xx

For many years Charlotte had accompanied Mrs. Phillips and Isabelle on shopping trips in London and she had been present at every single dress fitting for the wedding and those trips never bothered her, but when it was Charlotte's turn to try on dresses and pick things out, she found it to be absolutely exhausting. Since they had been reunited the day before, Mrs. Phillips had insisted on doting on the maid as if she were another daughter and that included Charlotte picking out gorgeous and lavish dresses, that she couldn't help but feel like she didn't deserve.

When they were finally done, Charlotte owned about five new dresses that had been packaged up in beautiful boxes and carefully wrapped in tissue paper. She held her boxes on her lap as they left the store and finally returned to the hotel. It was early evening now and the concierge informed them that the trials had paused for the day.

When they reached their floor, Charlotte felt relief flood through her body at the sight of Charles waiting outside of the room. He looked exhausted but his face broke into a grin when he saw the women.

"Well, it looks as if you all have bought out New York City's finest clothing stores," he said, smiling.

"Well, wardrobes do not refill themselves," Mrs. Phillips said, laughing.

Charlotte looked at Charles, "I think I would like to change out of this dress," she said, "And then maybe we can go for a walk?"

Charles nodded at her, "I will wait just out here," he said.

Isabelle smiled at Charles and then her mother opened the door to the hotel room.

Mr. Phillips was sitting just inside of the room, but he was not alone like they expected, but he was sitting and talking with an older couple and a younger girl, who looked to be about Isabelle's age.

"Father?" Isabelle asked uncertainty in her voice.

"Ah Isabelle," Mr. Phillips said standing to his feet, "This is Luke's family; they arrived just a few hours ago."

Charlotte felt her throat knot up and while Isabelle stared, confused about how to react or what to do, Charlotte began to push the wheels on her chair back towards the door. She stopped at the doorway and set the packages from the store on the floor, "I will just excuse myself."

The Crawford's were clearly perplexed by Charlotte's reaction but the Phillips let her go with the simple words, "We have a lot to discuss."

Charles looked down when Charlotte re-emerged from the room, "I thought you were changing."

Charlotte shrugged, "I do not want to be in there right now," she paused, "Luke's family is in there and they were crying and it made me sick."

"Well," Charles began, "They can't help it if they are mourning the son they had."

"I'm aware and that makes me feel even worse because I cannot bring myself to feel bad for them and that makes me feel worse," she explained.

Charles began to push her wheelchair down the hall and they began to talk about everything that had happened that day. "The press is having a field day of course, because Ismay gave an interview and he sounded like a blundering mess."

"I thought you said he had been a blundering mess," Charlotte commented.

"He has been I guess making up for the state he was in on the Carpathia."

"Well he does not have my sympathy. Many women who had been through much worse than he did were sleeping on the floors in that ship while he had a private room, it was disgusting."

"He is not so bad, not as bad as we all thought," Charles said tentatively.

Charlotte turned her head as best as possible to face Charles, "Are you mad? On the ship all you ever did was complain about him."

Charles shrugged, "I am aware, but since the sinking I have been doing a lot for him and well," he shrugged again.

Charlotte made an impatient noise, "Can we talk about something else?"

Charles had stopped pushing the wheelchair without realizing it, so he quickly resumed and moved on to, "So has Mr. and Mrs. Phillips made any plans to return to England?"

"If they have, I am not aware," Charlotte was silent, "I know despite everything they had wanted to go to Boston to pay their respects to Luke's parents but I suppose now they will not have to make that trip. Isabelle said today she would like to return home as soon as possible, so I suppose it is only a matter of time."

"I want to buy you a ring," Charles said after a long moment of silence, "I'm working to get some money so I can buy you something nice."

Charlotte looked at him, "Charles, please do not go out of your way to buy me some lavish piece of jewelry. All I want is something to symbolize the marriage vows we want to make and I will be content."

"Regardless of all that," Charles said, shrugging, "I want to get you something nice, it just might be awhile because of funds. But, I do want to marry you."

It was about the third time they had circled the hallways and they were just coming up on Charlotte's room again, "I want to marry you too," she said quietly.

Charles bent down to Charlotte's height, "Can we have supper together tomorrow?"

Charlotte gave a little shrug, "I think that would be doable."

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her sweetly, "I will see you tomorrow evening after the inquiry lets out for the day, alright?"

She nodded, "Very well."

Charles placed a hand on her cheek, cupping it gently; he brought her lips to his again. The kiss was sweet and the thought briefly passed through Charlotte's mind that she would be content to just sit here and kiss Charles for the rest of time. However at that moment, the door to the room opened and Isabelle stood there, her face was red and splotchy from crying. Charles pulled away to look at the girl and Charlotte frowned, "Izzie, what is the matter?"

"You better come in here," Isabelle whispered.

Charlotte and Charles both exchanged looks and then Charlotte said, "Good night Charles," and she pushed her wheelchair into the room.

"Good night Mr. Lightoller," Isabelle said before closing the door behind them.

The sight that greeted Charlotte now was very similar to the one when she first arrived in the room, however now there seemed to be some sort of tension. She noticed that Mr. Phillips and Mr. Crawford were both practically glaring at each other. Mrs. Crawford's shoulders were hunched forward as she sobbed into her arms, the younger girl comforting her mother. Mrs. Phillips shot up out of her chair when she saw Charlotte and Isabelle.

"What is going on?" Charlotte asked.

Everyone now turned their gaze towards Charlotte, "Well we told the Crawford's about what Luke did to you on the Titanic," Mr. Phillips began.

"Oh you mean my bruises and concussion? What about the attempted rape?" Charlotte asked, looking from Mr. Phillips to the Crawford's.

"Oh stop with your lies!" Mr. Crawford roared, "Our son had a gentle soul and now for you people to be accusing him and soiling his good name after he has died? You all disgust me."

"Your son had a gentle enough soul when he came to London to ask for Miss. Isabelle's hand, but your son also had a drinking problem and liquor made him crazy. I am sorry if you think I am purposely trying to ruin your son's reputation, but even the president of the White Star Line could tell you that Luke managed to ruin his reputation all on his own," Charlotte said. Her voice was cool and collected, but there was hatred laced throughout her voice, hatred towards Luke and anger towards being accused of lying.

"These are the sort of people you hire, Phillips?" Mr. Crawford asked, turning his gaze back to Mr. Phillips.

"Charlotte has no reason to lie and she has never lied to us before. All this woman has ever cared about is Isabelle's happiness! She did not even initially tell us what happened BECAUSE of the fact that she did not want to hurt our family! Now, I am sick and tired of you accusing my family of lying so if you could please be so kind as to leave our hotel room, I think we would all be very much obliged!" Mr. Phillips answered.

"With pleasure, sir!" Mr. Crawford shouted, and then he looked at his wife and daughter, "Come along."

Mrs. Crawford and their daughter stood up and hurriedly followed the man out of the room.

Charlotte and Isabelle watched them leave and Mrs. Phillips gave a little jump when the door slammed behind them.

"Well," Charlotte said after a long moment of silence, "That being said, I think I would very much like to retire for the evening."

**xx**

**A/N- Holy crap...the fact that it took me this long to write a new chapter makes me feel bad. Last week...ugh you don't even know. I think I mentioned in the last author's note that I was at church for four hours, then I was working anywhere between 6-8 hour shifts and THEN I was going straight back to church to work on stuff...then Monday I went out of town for a concert and did not get back till 6am...so yeah. Anyways, I have to run off to cash my paycheck and stuff now...so leave me some love. xo**


	16. Can't Buy Me Love

**Disclaimer: There is something in this chapter that I am in no way, shape, or form claiming happened. However I read some contradicting reports in a few different Titanic books that has lead me to think someone was lying in the American Inquiry. I'll explain more later.**

**xx**

Chapter 16

Can't Buy Me Love

The next day, Charlotte spent the entirety of it walking around the room with Isabelle. The women were working together to help Charlotte regain her strength and by the time it was ready to dress for supper, Charlotte had made considerable progress. Charlotte put on one of her nice new dresses and moved to stand in front of a mirror. She turned to the side to examine her appearance and simply shook her head, in nine day's time she had come so far from her life as a maid in London.

"Would you like some rouge for your cheeks?" Isabelle asked, as she looked up from the mess of makeup she had purchased.

Charlotte turned to look at Isabelle and slowly made her way to the table.

"Do you still feel weak on your legs?" Isabelle asked next, instead of waiting for an answer to her earlier question.

"Well, I am not as bad off as I was," Charlotte began, "But I do still feel a little weak."

Isabelle bit her lip, a habit that very few ever saw her do because her mother would be upset, but it was something Isabelle did when she was thinking and concerned at the same time. "I can ring the bell and call up a bell boy, see if they can acquire a cane for you."

"That would be lovely, thank you Izzie."

Charlotte watched Isabelle stand up and walk over to the bell that was supplied in the rooms; she pulled it once, then twice, and then Isabelle rejoined Charlotte at the table.

"I think only a small amount of makeup, alright?"

Isabelle nodded and picked up the rouge and carefully she began to apply some onto Charlotte's cheeks. Slowly Charlotte no longer resembled a tired and exhausted refugee of the Titanic, but she looked like a new person. Just as Isabelle was picking up something else to apply, there was a knock on the door, "Front desk," the voice called.

Isabelle stood to her feet and rushed to the door. She opened it and smiled at the bell boy on the other side, "Hello, thank you for being so prompt!"

"What can I get for you miss?" the bell boy asked.

"I need a handsome cane for my friend and soon, her beau should be here soon to pick her up for supper," Isabelle explained.

"Very well miss," the boy answered, he bowed and left the room.

Charlotte watched Isabelle close the door and in a moment, Isabelle was back at the table and helping to finish Charlotte's look for the evening. Soon after the bell boy returned with a beautiful cane and while Isabelle paid the boy, Charlotte practiced walking around the room with it. The bell boy had not been gone for two minutes when another knock came at the door. Isabelle opened it and on the other side was Charles, "Oh hello Mr. Lightoller," Isabelle greeted, "She is just over here."

Charles stepped into the room and his eyes fell on to Charlotte, who was leaning heavily on her cane. His eyes did a sweep over her body, not quite used to the sight of her in a luxurious dress with taffeta and silk; Charles grinned, "You look wonderful."

Charlotte gave a small shrug, "Thank you."

"Are you ready to go?" Charles asked, walking over to her.

She nodded, "Yes."

Charles held his arm out for hers and she took it, grateful for the extra stability his arm would offer. They walked out of the room together and Charles led her to the elevator.

"That is a handsome cane," Charles commented as the elevator took them down.

Charlotte looked down at it, "It is nice to have so I do not have to sit in that chair all day," she shook her head, "I do not think I had ever been off my feet for so long before."

The elevator gave a soft ping as it came to a stop and the doors opened. They walked out into a hallway and Charles led them down the hall and stopped at the last room on the left. Charles inserted a key into the lock and the door gently swung open. Inside was a table that had been set with plates and a covered dish in the middle. With a pang, Charlotte was reminded of her last meal on the Titanic, but she kept these thoughts to herself.

"It really is lovely," she said, smiling.

Carefully Charlotte walked over to the table and settled herself into a chair. Charles seemed apprehensive as he approached, as if he was nervous, and he hoped that Charlotte would not notice. He joined her at the table and they began to eat while talking about how they wanted life to be once the Titanic hysteria had died down a bit.

"I am very anxious to return to England," Charles explained, "Even if it does mean going right back to another inquiry."

"I just wish this nightmare would end," Charlotte murmured.

"Are you still having difficulty sleeping?" Charles asked.

Charlotte shrugged, "You would have thought that since I had Luke's family thrown into my face last night, I would have had terrible dreams, but alas I slept rather peacefully.

"Oh yes, you never did tell me how that all worked out. What happened with them?"

Charlotte gave a bitter laugh, "They accused me of lying and said I was just trying to ruin their son's precious reputation."

"What would you have to gain from lying about what happened?" Charles asked his voice was tinged with anger.

"Who knows, they are just a bunch of spoiled American's who had no class."

He smiled and kissed her hand, "I will be right back."

Charlotte watched Charles stand from the table as he walked off to what she presumed was the washroom. She looked back down at the dessert in front of her and took a bite. If there was one thing that the American's could do, she thought, it's that they know how to make delicious food. She had just taken another bite of the pie when Charles re-emerged.

"So today after the inquiry I went out," he began as he took his seat once more, "And I went shopping."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him, confusion showed on her face as her eyebrows knitted together, and a brief pang of worry struck in her chest, "Alright?"

"I bought something for you, that I hope...you will accept it," he continued and then Charlotte watched in shock as he presented her with a small black ring box.

"Charles?" she asked, uncertainty tainted her tone and their eyes met, staring at one another.

"I told you I wanted to get you a ring and I know what you said, but I saw this in the shop window and I could not help but feel like it would be perfect on your finger," he answered in a quick rush.

Charlotte looked from him to the small box in her hands and she carefully opened it. Inside was the loveliest diamond she had ever laid eyes on. It twinkled in the light that was in the room and the band was shined up to a pristine look, she was almost scared to touch it, as if her fingers would tarnish the band.

At long last, after what felt like an eternity to Charles, Charlotte pulled her gaze from the ring and looked back at Charles, "This...this is too much," she shook her head, "Charles I cannot accept and wear such an extravagant ring. I also cannot accept something that you will surely be paying off for a very long time."

"The ring is totally paid off," Charles said, trying to keep the hurt tone out of his voice.

"Charles, just two days ago you mentioned that you barely had anything. It was all in England, where did you get the money to pay off a ring like this?" Charlotte asked.

Charles was silent for a moment and then pulled at his collar and said, "I went to the White Star Line offices and demanded my salary and made a claim for losses and damages. They gave me the money with no trouble."

Charlotte frowned again, "Charles all that is in the paper today was about how passengers and crew members are not having their claims filled. How would you have managed to get yours?"

"Just lucky I guess," he gave her a smile.

"Charles, you are lying to me," Charlotte said, anger in her voice, "You expect to marry me but you are not willing to tell me where the money came from? I may be a woman who has grown up as a maid but I am not a fool."

Charles sighed and stood to his feet, "I need you to promise you will not get upset with me."

"I am already upset with you, Charles."

He gave a sort of nod and said, "During my testimony on the first day, I was asked if I saw Bruce Ismay get into a boat on his own accord or if I saw him ordered into a boat. I told the senator's that I saw Henry order Bruce into the boat."

Charlotte frowned, "I hardly see how this is relevant."

"It is relevant, I promise."

Charlotte made an impatient noise but simply said, "Fine, go on."

"But there was a bit of a problem with me giving a statement like that," Charles took a deep breath, "Because the boat Bruce was recovered in was launched from the starboard side."

Charlotte thought about his words and frowned, "When I found you that night, you were on the port side. How could you have seen Henry order Bruce into a boat on the other side of the ship?"

Charles nodded, "That is rather the point, and I did not see Bruce get into a boat either on his own decision or someone else. While we were on the Carpathia, Bruce told me to say I saw it happen or else I would lose my job, then for added measure, when we reached New York, he bribed me."

There was a long moment of silence as Charlotte allowed Charles' words to sink in. Finally she found her cane and stood to her full height. She looked at Charles and had a mixed expression of disgust and despair, "I cannot believe you took a bribe."

Charles stared at her; the tone of unbelievable sadness in her voice was almost too much for him to bear. "I just," he was stammering, "I just wanted to be able to give you at least once nice thing in your life."

Charlotte made a face, "Charles you are a damn fool. The nicest thing you have ever given me was your love and I do not need a ring that was bought with lying and dirty money to be happy." She shook her head, "I am going back to my room and please do not bother coming to see me or talk to me until you have returned the ring and given Bruce his money back."

Before Charles could speak, Charlotte opened the door of the room and headed for the elevator.

When Charlotte made it back to the room she was sharing with Isabelle, she was grateful to see the girl had left to meet her parents for supper downstairs. She moved to the washroom and began to clean her face off, removing any trace of makeup. She got as far as removing her dress, she would need Isabelle's help with the corset, and so Charlotte fell into her bed. She pulled the thick blankets up over her head and buried her face into the pillows where she began to cry.

**XX**

**A/N- Oof! That is really all I can say to sum up the actions in this chapter. I do not want to go into details in my A/N about the bribe and lie...but if you wanna discuss what my friend and I read online/in books, contact me privately.**

**I have to get ready for work now, leave me love! xo**


	17. I Gave You All

Chapter 17

I Gave You All

The next day came and went and Charlotte stayed in bed, refusing to talk to Isabelle or anyone for that matter. Isabelle had food brought up for her friend, but Charlotte just turned away from the food.

In the evening Isabelle left for supper and yet Charlotte still would not join them and Charles never came by to visit. Truth be told, Charlotte couldn't figure out if she was suffering from a broken heart or from broken trust. She had given her whole heart to Charles and he turned out to be like every other man, thinking he needed money to make her happy, but no matter how much her heart ached and her body cried to be held, she refused to have her love bought; and so this went on.

It wasn't until the second day of being in bed that Charlotte agreed to eat some soup but she still would not tell Isabelle what had happened at the supper.

On the evening of the twenty-second, while Charlotte was sitting up in her bed and Isabelle attempted to make small talk, there was a knock on the door.

"If it is Charles, please tell him to go away," Charlotte whispered.

Isabelle nodded and walked to the door; she peeked out of it and then opened it to reveal her father.

"We are leaving tomorrow," Mr. Phillips announced, walking into the room, "We will be boarding a train to the south to visit some of my relatives and then from there we will be taking a ship home to London."

Isabelle and Charlotte exchanged surprised glances and then simply nodded, "I'll have Miss. Isabelle's things packed and ready," Charlotte said, moving to finally get out of the bed.

Mr. Phillips waved a hand, "Charlotte, we all know our relationship now extends beyond you being a maid," he glanced at Isabelle and closed the door behind him, "Which brings me to our next topic."

Charlotte looked at Mr. Phillips and pulled her dressing gown on over her night dress, "Yes sir?"

"You have always done so much for our family but especially for Isabelle. We no longer want you to be a maid however and so we will no longer treat you as such," Mr. Phillips paused, he seemed to be trying to choose the best words possible, "And so on that note we-"

"We want to adopt you as my sister," Isabelle interrupted.

Charlotte stared, "You...what?" She blinked, clearly confused.

"Mrs. Phillips and I love you as we love Isabelle and so we want to adopt you, so to say."

Charlotte looked from Mr. Phillips to Isabelle, "I have no idea what to say."

Isabelle rushed over and sat at Charlotte's side, "You are already sort of like an older sister to me, and this would just make it more official."

"We already determined you do not even have to change your name, we would just adopt you like one of our own," Mr. Phillips went on to say.

"That is just so," Charlotte shook her head, "It is so generous."

Isabelle was beaming and she hugged Charlotte, "Say yes?"

Charlotte smiled at the younger girl, the first real smile since Charles had come to the room to pick her up that first evening, "How can I refuse?"

So that was the start of a new life for Charlotte and slowly she moved towards it, because she decided she was done living in the past and if Charles wanted her he would have come for her. The next morning the girls dressed in new traveling suits that Mrs. Phillips had purchased and they had their things packed, ready to go to the train station.

As usual the lobby was full with reporters as they navigated through the sea of people. The family stood at the front desk and that was when Charlotte looked over and saw Charles leaning against a wall, talking to another officer. The two made eye contact and Charlotte noticed how tired Charles looked. His face was pale and he had dark shadows under his eyes; the two kept each other's stare a second longer and then Charles broke it. He said something to the other officer and moved into the hearing room.

Charlotte looked away then just to see Isabelle watching her carefully, "Charlotte, say goodbye," she whispered.

"Izzie I-"

"Excuse me, Miss. Bennett?"

Charlotte turned to see the other younger officer had approached them, "Yes?"

"Forgive me, my name is Harold Lowe. I-"

"You are the man who saved my life," Charlotte interrupted.

He smiled at her, "Yes I am and I happen to have become good friends with Officer Lightoller," Harold said slowly.

Charlotte could not help the noise of impatience that came from her mouth, "So instead of facing me he sends you instead?"

"Actually he has no idea I came to speak to you," Harold sighed, "He has just been so miserable since the other night and while I do not know why I am sure it has something to do with the supper you two shared. Please just give him another chance."

"If he wanted another chance he knows what he must do;" Charlotte gave a shrug, "Besides we are leaving today so he has already lost his opportunity."

"We will be going home to England in another two weeks or so," Harold said, apprehension in his voice.

"As I said, if he wishes to right his wrong, he will and then at that time he can come and find me," Charlotte looked to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, "Now really Mr. Lowe, I must be going." She smiled, "Thank you for everything you did for me that night, I will forever be grateful and I pray you safely return to England."

"Thank you Miss. Bennett," Harold said clear disappointment in his voice.

"Thank you Mr. Lowe," and with a small smile at the man, Charlotte turned to leave.

Xx

It was another two weeks before Charlotte and her new adopted family arrived back in England. They visited family in North Carolina for a few days and then they headed for home.

Charlotte had never been happier to walk up the stone path to the three story home in London that was now so much more than a house to her, but her home, and the word home resonated deeper with her now, because things were no longer off limits to her and she could truly feel like a person in this home.

Jones the butler opened the door for the family and as Mr. Phillips shook the man's hand, Charlotte noticed her old friend wink at her.

"Lottie!"

Charlotte looked as Ethel came rushing out of the kitchen and before she could utter a response, the woman had Charlotte locked into a warm embrace.

"Oh my darling little Lottie," Ethel murmured.

Charlotte simply smiled as warm tears rolled down her cheek, "Ethel, I do not think you have called me Lottie since I was twelve."

Ethel pulled away from the girl but held her by the shoulders, staring at Charlotte's young face, and in the tiny places she noticed the change in the girl's demeanor and she saw the sadness in Charlotte's face, "Well I spent three days thinking you had died. No one was able to get word back to us and the Phillips name turned up on the survivor list but no word of you. We were all nervous wrecks," Ethel shook her head and kissed Charlotte on the cheek.

"Mrs. Phillips it is so truly wonderful to see you," Ethel said in greeting.

Mrs. Phillips was beaming, "I want a lavish supper with the best of Britain's foods."

"I already have a roast in the oven and we have been preparing bread pudding and all of your favorites all day," Ethel told Mrs. Phillips.

"Oh that is simply wonderful, thank you Ethel," Mrs. Phillips looked to find Jones but he was already at the car with the driver getting luggage unloaded and brought up the stairs.

Later that evening, long after everyone had retired for the evening, Charlotte sat up in her bed. She had on her dressing gown and her eyes fell onto her mother's wedding ring, still on her hand and finally after a moment, Charlotte got to her feet and left her bedroom. She now had a room closer to Isabelle's that was almost triple the size of her old bedroom, which was saying something because her bedroom from her days as a maid had never been exactly small. Her hands reached for the handle and she quietly turned the knob, opened the door, closed it gently, and Charlotte walked down the stairs, heading for the kitchen.

The last time she had done this had been April ninth and she did not think she ever would have done this again, but my how time had changed. Just as always, when Charlotte opened the kitchen door, Ethel and Jones were sitting at the counter with their cups of tea.

"I had hoped you would join us, darling," Ethel said as she got to her feet and retrieved Charlotte's old mug from the back of the cabinet.

"The entire trip home this was all I could think of," Charlotte said as she took the old familiar mug into her hands.

Jones carefully poured the hot tea from the pot into Charlotte's mug and the girl watched, transfixed, as the steam began to rise from the cup. She looked up at her two old friends and burst into tears. Ethel and Jones exchanged looks and then Ethel walked around the table and pulled Charlotte into an embrace, "Oh my darling girl, you are home now and you are safe," she murmured, "It's okay."

Charlotte shook her head, "It's not okay Ethel, it is never going to be okay," she wiped her tears away, "Because I gave my heart to someone on the Titanic and then asked me to marry him with a ring he paid for with a bribe because he thought I needed big and lavish things to be happy. I left him in New York without even saying a proper goodbye, because thinking about him hurts too much."

"My darling Charlotte," Ethel began, "I need you to start from the beginning."

So Charlotte took a deep breath and a huge sip of her tea and she began to explain everything to Jones and Ethel, from how she met this man on the Titanic right up until his proposal.

"I do not know what hurt me the most, the fact that he lied to the American courts to buy me this ring or the fact that he lied to me about where it came from," Charlotte shook her head, "Now I have been sitting here for the last few weeks wondering if I did the right thing and if I made a mistake," she sighed, "What do you think?"

Ethel and Jones exchanged looks and then finally Ethel said, "I think your parents would have been so proud of you for standing by your convictions," she paused, "But I do think that when this young man returns to London for the inquiry, you need to find him and give him a second chance because I do think he loves you. A man would not have done everything that you have told us tonight if he did not truly love you."

"I do not doubt his love," Charlotte said, "I just doubt his motives and his sense of the word honesty."

"Well in the end the decision will be yours and so now I will send you to bed with that to think and dream on. It is late child and I have to be up early to prepare breakfast," Ethel kissed Charlotte on the forehead, "Goodnight Lottie."

Charlotte looked at Ethel and Jones for a moment and then nodded her head, "Goodnight," and with that Charlotte retreated back up the stairs and into the dark seclusion of her bedroom.

Xx

A/N- This may be my only chapter for a while...on Saturday I'm going on a little trip and I'll have no internet where I'm going...we're going to NYC to see Victor Garber (who played Thomas Andrews) in a little cabaret and so I'll be gone...but yeah leave me some love and I'll try to work on this when I'm on the train. Lots of love, Beccs.

xo


	18. The Promise

Chapter 18

The Promise

If Charlotte thought she had done a lot of shopping in New York, it wound up being nothing compared to the shopping they did in London. The trip in New York had been, as Isabelle put it, "Just acquiring clothes until we can return," and so now the trip in London was to acquire a whole new wardrobe, the only difference being Charlotte was now a real member of the Phillips family.

Over the next few weeks they all returned to the normalcy of life, or as normal as things could be. Charlotte saw from Mr. Phillips newspapers that the Titanic crew was on its way back to England to testify in the British inquiry and as each day brought Lightoller closer to London, Charlotte wondered more if he would make an appearance in her life.

Charlotte adjusted in little ways to her new life and she soon no longer needed her cane. Isabelle immersed herself in her social life with friends, parties, and lunches, but that was the one part of this new life that Charlotte withdrew from. These had been the same people who had always treated her as an object and the idea of enjoying tea with them was almost appalling.

On the afternoon of May twentieth however, Charlotte and Isabelle went out for their weekly lunch date. It was like any other day as the two climbed into the family's automobile and headed for the tea room. The street was busier than usual and as they climbed out of the car, they saw a swarm of reporters at a building next to the tea room.

"Jones, what is going on?" Charlotte asked as he opened the door for them.

"The Titanic inquiries are going on in that building today, Miss. Charlotte," Jones told her, giving her a pointed look.

Charlotte knew from Jones' look that he was thinking she should go and see Charles, but she simply shook her head at him. Charlotte turned her gaze back to the reporters for a moment longer and then she followed Isabelle into the tea room.

The two girls talked about many topics but Charlotte couldn't help but think about the Titanic and more importantly, Charles.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened with you and Charles?" Isabelle asked.

Charlotte looked up sharply, "What?"

"Ever since we arrived and you found out that the Inquiries were next door, you have had this look on your face, and I know it's because you are thinking about him," Isabelle said, diplomatically.

Charlotte shrugged, "I would rather not."

"Well if you do not go and talk to him, I am going to find him and tell him that you are here," Isabelle said.

Charlotte just stared at her friend and made no attempt to stand up and at that Isabelle wiped a napkin across her lips and she stood up. Charlotte jumped to her feet, "Fine Izzie, you win!" She grabbed her small bag off the table, "I'll go!"

"Well, you may not have to," Isabelle said, staring at someone behind Charlotte.

Charlotte spun around to see Charles, Pittman, Lowe, and Boxhall waiting to be seated. Charles had not noticed her yet but Harold had and she saw him elbow Charles in the side who then looked from Harold to Charlotte. The couple stared at each other, for what felt like to Charlotte, an eternity. Finally after Boxhall whispered something into Charles' ear, Charles took a step towards Charlotte and met her at the table.

"Hi," he greeted quietly, his voice was hoarse.

"Hello Charles," Charlotte replied.

"I uh-" he cleared his throat, "I had seen in the newspapers that Phillips had adopted you as his daughter, but I could not quite believe it until now," he said, his eyes sweeping up and down her lavish gown.

Suddenly Charlotte felt very self-conscious and she gave a small shrug, "Well it is true."

There was another long silence and while Charles could not help but notice Isabelle watching the two of them, Charlotte could not help but notice the other officers watching them.

"Can we go for a walk so we can talk in private?" Charles finally asked.

Charlotte nodded, "Yes."

The two headed for the door, walking right past the officers and outside into the sun. Charlotte noticed Jones sitting in the car with the driver and she noticed his grin as they walked off.

"How was your journey home?" Charles asked tentatively, Charlotte could tell he was trying to make small talk.

Charlotte waved her hand, "It was as to be expected, I suppose." She did not want to bring up the nightmares she had while on the ship.

"You know, ever since the night that you walked out of my room," Charles began as they turned a corner into a quieter street, "I have hated myself."

"Perhaps you should have thought of that," Charlotte could not help the bitter and angry tone in her voice.

Charles was silent because as far as he was concerned, he deserved anything Charlotte could throw at him.

Finally after several minutes of silence, Charlotte said, "Well, do you have anything else to say?"

Charles looked at her, "I took the ring back and they gave me the money back," he began, "Then I told Ismay he could have his money. Unfortunately now, if I change my statement here in the British Inquiries I could face serious trouble for lying to the American courts and the people here would question my entire account of that evening."

Charlotte stared at him, "You gave the ring and money back?"

He nodded, "I realize now that doing what I did, telling lies for money to buy something so insignificant when you never wanted it in the first place, it all just became a jumble of disrespect and dishonor, that I never intended to introduce into our lives. I want to make this right, because these past few weeks of my life that you have not been present, have been unbearable. I realized that I never want to lose you again and that I was willing to do everything I could to rectify this mess I have created."

A long moment of silence passed, "You will have to prove it to me Charles. I mean, physically prove it to me. Your words mean nothing until I see your promises put into action."

Charles nodded, "I understand and I intend to do just that. Starting with this," he pulled a small box out of his pocket and inside was a silver band, "It is not an engagement ring but a ring to recognize a promise. A promise, that I will treat you with the respect and give you the love that you so rightly deserve. This is a promise that I will marry you when I have saved up enough money for us to be able to live on our own."

Charlotte looked at the ring then back to Charles, "Alright, I believe you." She offered her hand to him and he carefully pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, "You can start by coming to supper tomorrow night."

Charles grinned at her, "Okay, I will be there."

She could not help the smile that broke on her face and for a moment she contemplated kissing Charles, but instead she said, "I should get back to Isabelle and Jones, before they start to worry."

He nodded, "Alright I will walk you back."

The couple walked back, this time in a much more comfortable silence than before. Isabelle was standing outside of the restaurant with Jones and when she saw Charlotte and Charles, a small little grin broke out on to her face.

"Well, you two seem to be rather cozy," she said, smiling.

Charlotte shook her head and looked at Charles, "I will see you tomorrow evening at seven."

He nodded, "Yes."

Charles nodded at Jones and tipped his hat to Isabelle and then returned inside to find his fellow officers.

"Well what a lovely ring," Isabelle commented, eying the new piece of jewelry that Charlotte was wearing.

Charlotte scowled and pulled her white gloves out of the little purse that was dangling around her wrist "Oh be quiet you, let us go home."

Isabelle giggled as Jones opened the car door, "Well I for one am glad for you two. You deserve to be happy."

Charlotte sat across from Isabelle in the car, "Well thank you I suppose, but we are not engaged. It is just a promise that we will be married when he can afford it."

"Ah, the respectable thing to do," Isabelle giggled again.

"Oh shush you," Charlotte said, but she could not help the smile and she realized how nice it felt to smile a true and genuine smile again.

Everything seemed to finally be working out at last and the idea of becoming Mrs. Lightoller once again thrilled her.

**Xx**

**A/N- Dear God, I am so sorry I took forever to upload. I have been working crazy hours and then I stared college two weeks ago...and bleh it's just been a lot of stuff going on.**

**Please review...it'd be the most awesome thing to do.**

**I love you all, Beccs. **


	19. You Must Love Me

Chapter 19

You Must Love Me

The next evening and for several weeks after that, Charles came to supper. They would all dine together and after the last of the meal was served, Charles would take a drink with Mr. Phillips and then he would walk through the gardens with Charlotte. They quickly became close again and it was soon very nearly painful for Charlotte to be separated from Charles.

"Do you think we shall live in Liverpool when we are married?" Charlotte asked one night. She had been sitting on a bench trimming the leaves off a newly bloomed rose and she had been quiet for some time, so her words now surprised Charles.

"When we are married? Is our engagement back on?" Charles sat down beside her.

Charlotte looked up at him and gave him a look, "I would not allow you to continue coming to see me unless my plans to marry you were actually back on."

He smiled, "You are something else, Charlotte. I hope you know that."

She returned the smile and carefully placed the rose in the front pocket of his shirt, "There you go."

Charles took her hands gently into his and brought them to his mouth, where he left a gentle kiss. "Lottie, I am going to be returning to work soon. To the sea and so I am very glad you brought all of this up before I leave because I would very much like to marry you and have you set up in a home before I go."

Charlotte nodded, "I know it is your job, but the idea of you returning to sea absolutely petrifies me."

Charles reached over and pulled her into his arms "I know darling," he said gently, "But I have to do it."

She placed her head against his chest and listened to the beating of his heart, "I do not want a large wedding with people who did not care about me four months ago to be there."

"If that is what you want then it is what you will get. Only immediate family will be there, okay?" Charles glanced down at her.

"That is what I want," she looked up at him and for a moment the two just stared at each other. Charles gently brushed some of her hair out of her face and leaned down to kiss her.

"Charlotte, it is getting late and-Oh I am sorry."

The couple broke apart to see Isabelle standing in the doorway of the house, perfectly framed by the light of the mud pantry.

Charlotte pulled away from Charles and stood to her feet, "Right okay. We will be right in."

Isabelle beamed at the two and then disappeared into the home.

Charlotte blushed as she looked back at Charles, "Shall we tell them tonight?"

He smiled, "Wait a moment," Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring box, "Here is this," he opened it and inside was a simple gold band with a single stone placed in the center.

She took in the sight of the ring and beamed, "Charles, this is gorgeous."

"I have had it in my pocket for about two weeks and I have been waiting for the right time," slowly Charles pulled the ring out of the box and placed it onto Charlotte's finger, "And tonight seemed like the right time."

Charlotte smiled, "I think tonight was the right time."

By the end of the next week, Charlotte and Charles were married and only thirty people were in attendance. They moved to a small home where Charlotte and Charles raised five children. She did not return to the water until Charles bought Yacht in their later years and even on the first outing, their sons had to carry their mother off of the boat because of the panic attack that ensued.

Charlotte and her new sister stayed in constant communication and both were present at the birth of each others children. Both watched their husbands go off to World War One and both buried sons after World War Two, a bond they never wanted to share. After forty years of marriage, Charlotte buried her husband in London and then moved to the country side where she hoped to no longer be followed by the Titanic disaster and the questions people on the streets liked to ask her when they recognized her from an occasional paper.

Charlotte died ten years after her husband and she was laid to rest in the Phillips family plot where her parents had been buried many years before. Marriage and life for the Lightoller's had not always been an easy thing, but they stayed strong through out the forty years and after Charles retired, one was never far from the other.

The End

**A/N- God...I didn't know if this would ever happen. I am well aware how long it has been and this has always been on the back of my mind. However today I went to a friend's house and we watched a Documentary, "A Night to Remember" and then "Titanic" and I was like "God...I wanna write" So this is what happened...and...guess what? I am plotting another story! One about an officer...School is wrapping up soon so hopefully this will all become much easier. School and working 30-40 hours a week is a killer...as it stands I am falling asleep right now..so on that note I shall go to sleep. **

**Please leave me lots of love because I love you and because it is the 101st anniversary of the Titanic. **


End file.
